T^'- LIBRARY
v1 YOUNG UNT
PROVO. UlAH

BRIGHAiVI YOUNG UNIVERSIIY;

One Hundred Years of Mormonism,

A History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints from 1805 to 1905

By

JOHN HENRY EVANS, PH. B.,

Instructor in Church History at the Latter-day Saints' University,
Salt Lake City, Utah.

Salt Lake City

THE DESERET NEWS

1905

Copyright 1905

By

John Henry Evans.

THE LIBRARY
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVaiOTY

rrvovo. UTAH

ENDORSEMENT.

Salt Lake City, October 27, 1905.
President Joseph F. Smith and Counselors,
President's Office, City.
Dear Brethren: — We, your brethren, appointed as a special
committee to examine the work written by Elder John Henry
Evans, of the Latter-day SaintsUniversity, entitled ^'One Hun-
dred Years of Mormonism,'' respectfully report that we have care-
fully read and considered the whole of said work and find the
facts therein to be true and correct as far as our knowledge ex-
tends.

In style, the writing is plain, direct and simple, without any
marked effort at literary embellishment, and well adapted, in our
opinion, for a text book in Church History that can advantageously
be used in our Sunday Schools and other Church institutions of
learning. We believe that it will materially help our youth in
their study of the great latter-day work by making clear a number
of points that former histories written for the young people of the
Church, have left somewhat ambiguous.
Most respectfully we remain,

Your brethren,

Francis M. Lyman,
George Reynolds,
Joseph F. Smith, Jr.

PREFACE.

This volume was written primarily for the young men and
women of the Church, the sons and daughters, in the main,
of those heroic souls whose deeds I have undertaken to re-
late. J\ly constant aim, therefore, has been, to make the nar-
rative as interesting as I could without sacrificing truth and
accuracy.

For the argumentative tone of passages here and there
throughout the book no apology, surely, will be expected, in
view of the pace in this direction which non-" Mormon"
writers, have uniformly set me. The most recent attempt,
for instance, at a story of the "Mormons" by an outsider is
little else than an argument, from cover to cover of its more
than six hundred pages, against the claims of the Church ;
and the animus of its author is not even disguised by ordin-
ary forms. But, indeed, as the reader will perceive, in this
respect, I have followed my contentious "historical" brethren
only at a comfortable dog-trot, being satisfied, generally, to
let the facts speak for themselves without putting myself
out of the way to cast javelins after antagonists.

As to my sources of information, a word must suffice. 1
have read every book, pamphlet, and article on the subject,
"Mormon," non-"Mormon," and anti-"Mormon," that was
accessible during the five years I have been engaged in the
preparation of this volume. Up to almost the end of my task
it was the intention to publish a complete bibliography of the
subject ; but the limits which I had fixed for the book have
been already so much transcended that I forbear increasing
its bulk by even this slight, though apparently indispensible,
addition.

V ONE HUNDRED YEARS OE MORMONISM.

The "Introduction," it is believed, forms a suitable back-
ground for the narrative of the New Dispensation. For some
time after the completion of the chapter it proved a subject
of debate in my own mind as to whether it should be admit-
ted into the work. But reasons which it is unnecessary to
state here, together with the advice of friends who were kind
enough to say a good word for it, finally turned the balance
in favor of insertion. The highly condensed form in which
it necessarily appears may, however, make it difficult read-
ing for young persons.

A committee — consisting of President Francis M. Ly-
man. President George Reynolds, and Elder Joseph F.
Smith, Jr., and appointed by the President of the
Church — read the entire work in manuscript; and while
disclaiming any desire to shift upon these brethren the onus
of responsibility for imperfections still remaining, I avail
myself of this opportunity to thank them thus publicly for
the valuable suggestions which they have offered and which
I have accepted. To other friends, also, who shall here be
nameless, I am grateful for encouraging words and assist-
ance during the progress of my undertaking, without which
One Hundred Years of Mormonism would probably not have

appeared.

JOHN HENRY EVANS.

Salt Lake City, October, 1905.

CONTENTS.

Page

Introduction ix

PART FIRST.

OPENING OF THE NEW DISPENSATION.

Chapter I. Light from Heaven i

Chapter II. The Other Sheep 37

Chapter III. Whispering from the Ground 51

Chapter IV, The American Bible 73

Chapter V. From out the Wilderness 104

Chapter VI. Not of the World 112

PART SECOND.

ON THE BANKS OF THE OHIO AND THE MISSOURI.

Chapter I. The land of Shinehah 121

Chapter II. Zion— Past, Present, and to Come 135

Chapter III. As the Stars Differ 150

Chapter IV. Zion is Fled 166

Chapter V. Hope Deferred 182

Chapter VI. In Spirit and in Truth 195

Chapter VII. The Place of the Judgment Seat 211

Chapter VIII. Traitors and Friends 226

Chapter IX. The Herald of Grace 235

Chapter X. Missouri's Blood-stained Escutcheon. 253

VIU ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

PART THIRD.

NAUVOO THE BEAUTIFUL,

Page

Chapter I. Rising from the Ashes 284

Chapter II. "Across the Great Waters" 294

Chapter III. A Lull in the Storm 305

Chapter IV. Malevolent Echoes 311

Chapter V. The Seed of the Church 336

Chapter VI. The Enigma of Palmyra 355

Chapter VII. The Voice of the Shepherd 371

Chapter \TII. The Last Days of Navuoo . 389

PART FOURTH.

CHILDREN OF THE WILDERNESS.

Chapter I. Westward Ho ! 404

Chapter II. Wayside Stations 420

Chapter III. A Ram in the Thicket 430

Chapter IV. Blazing the Trail 439

PART FIFTH.

THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD's HOUSE.

Chapter I. A Battle With the Soil 450

Chapter II. On to the South! 462

Chapter III. A "Fly" in the National Ointment ... .473

Chapter IV. A Long Wait for the Crown 485

Chapter V. The Days of the Underground 500

Chapter \T. Some Scattered Fragments 513

GENERAL INTRODUCTION.

The Fulness of Times.

The mission of "Mormonism," according to the Latter-day
Saints, is to prepare the world for the great events of the
Last Days — the personal reign of Christ, the gathering of
the elect prior to his coming, the cleansing of the earth by
fire, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment.
Now, if this claim is correct, there ought to be discernible
in the past few hundred years traces of a universal move-
ment of events, having for their common object the estab-
lishment of this religion ; since Deity appears to have uni-
formly so shaped the course of history as to bring about the
accomplishment of his purposes with respect to man. Atten-
tion to the drift of world-affairs during the time indicated
will reveal the fact that such preparative elements have ac-
tually been in operation,

Pre-Christian Preparation.

First, however, let us observe the divine shifting of historic
scenery prior to the days of Christ. Two distinct lines of
preparation for the advent of our Savior had been going on
simultaneously — one in the pagan world, the other in the
Hebrew natioin.

Heathen philosophy and religion, at the time of Christ,
had lost the vitality which had characterized them during
their first years, and they failed longer to satisfy the natural
cravings of the mind and the heart. The masses discredited
the gods ; and "cultured men wondered that soothsayers who
chanced to meet could look one another in i^he face without

X ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

laughing." Society was infected with moral leprosy; vices
that may not even be named were practiced with impunity
and almost without reproach. And, in consequence, there
was a great void in the lives of men, coupled with a universal
looking forward to something — none knew what. The
world, moreover, was under one general government. Rome
had broken down the partition-walls between the ancient na-
tions, and "united north and south and east and west in
bonds of a common language and culture, df common laws
and customs." There prevailed throughout the world, there-
fore, a sense of unity such as had never been felt before. The
Latin tongue, introduced wherever Roman legions went, not
only furnished a means of intellectual intercourse between
the several peoples of the world, but gave the barbaric races
an instrument of culture. Then, too, in the reign of Au-
gustus, "an increased stimulus was given to travel and inter-
course between the different parts of the Roman world.
The Greeks had during the course of centuries been devel-
oping a high stage of civilization when Rome appeared on
the scene to absorb this civilization, to add to it her own quo-
ta, and then to distribute this rare combination of philosophy
and culture, of law and government, over all the earth.

Meantime, there had been going on in the Hebrew na-
tion a series of events that reached their culmination at the
same time as those in the Gentile world. The Jews were di-
vided into sects. There had been an apostasy from the re-
ligion which Jehovah had taught them. They had lost the
spirit of prophecy. The ceremonies of their religion had
dwindled into lifeless formalism. The very men whose duty
it was to learn the divine will and to communicate that will
to the people no longer believed in present revelation and an-
gelic ministrations. In addition, the Lord had, ages before
this, separated the Jewish race from all others that the idea
of thf true God might be preserved among men ^nd a pure

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. XI

lineage be established through which the Redeemer might
come. And ever and anon, as they strayed from the wav of
truth, prophets arose to lead them back, sometimes with
gentle persuasions, sometimes with warnings and reproofs,
sometimes with terrible denunciations, and threatenings of
what would come upon them in case of disobedience. At the
time of our Savior's birth, the Jews, groaning under the bur-
dens of an alien power, were looking forward eagerly to a
time when their long-expected Messiah, with a strong and
mighty arm, would break the foreign yoke from their necks
and re-establish their own cherished rule and law.

In this fulness of time did Jesus Christ appear to re-
deem the world. He enunciated a system of truth, founded
the Church, and bade his followers carry the message of
peace to all men. Thus, upon a foundation which had been
centuries in the building, and to which many nations had un-
consciously contributed, the glad tidmgs of joy spread from
one country to another till within a hundred or two years
scarcely a corner of the world had not been penetrated by the
Word.

The Light Goes out.

But the ages that succeeded the establishment of the Chris-
tian faith were not favorable to the growth and preservation
of this pure and sublime religion. Civilization, at the time of
Christ, put forth its greatest strength; and there followed a
rapid, almost a sudden, decline. This period, known as the
Dark Ages, was brought on mainly by the influx of barbar-
ians into western Europe, in the fourth and fifth centuries,
commonly termed the wandering of nations. These hordes
of northern peoples, superior physically to the decayed Ro-
mans, but "scarcely if indeed at all, above the level of our
best tribes of North American Indians," came pouring down
upon the Empire of the West a mighty tide of ignorance.

Xll ONK HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

"The whole western world," in consequence, "fell l)ack into
a more primitive staij^e of civihzation \vliich it had once
passed by, and lecame more material, ignorant, and supersti-
tious than it had been."" In this universal darkness the torch
of the gospel was utterly extinguished.

Ever since the sescond century there had been influences
at work which tended to create and foster error in the
church. One of these was the conversion of the heathen.
Other motives than individual conviction are attributed to
the multitudes that embraced the faith after Constantine"s
"change of heart." Whole tribes together joined the church
through no higher motive than fear or favor. In many cases
the sword was the principal instrument of propagating the
faitli. Bearing in mind the inferiority of the new converts
and their great numbers, it is easy to understand how it was
that Christianity underwent a disastrous change. The
strangers paid the same homage to the new God that they
had been accustomed to pay to the old, and largely in the
same manner and mood. Their minds were altogether in-
capable of grasping and retaining unmodified the elevated
precepts of the gospel. Another of these corrupting agencies
was the absence of inspired men in the church. There were
no successors to the apostles in name or office or zeal for the
truth. Hence, we find doctrines condemned as heretical
which are in the most perfect accord with the teachings of
the Scriptures, The so-called fathers seem to have had an
extremely doubtful standard of judgment in matters re-
ligious.

With tliese two negative influences at work, the transi-
tion from a pure and heaven-guarded faith to a corrupt, re-
jected church was easy and inevitable. In the first place, the
form of the Church organization was changed. Papacy as-
sumed the place of the apostleship ; we do not hear any more
of prophets, of seventies, and of other inspired officers. Re-

GENERAL TNTRODUCTION. Xlll

lig'ioiis services took on a mysterious air wholly out of keep-
ing^ with the g-enius of the g^ospel, hecomiiig formal, difficult,
and ostentatious. Pagan ideas were adopted, almost without
change, into the Christian ritual. The form and purpose of
haptism were altered, as was also the sacrament of the Lord's
supper. In the next place, spiritual gifts ceased, "not indeed
bv any formal record of their withdrawal, but by the clear
evidence that they were possessed no longer." Then, amid
the subtilities that grew up, weed-like, around the basic
principles of Christianity in those evil days when the Euro-
pean mind was under the spell of Greek and Oriental phil-
ospphy, the true doctrine of the Godhead entirely disap-
peared. Finally, there occurred a general decline in morals
and spiritual life. Milner, a modern historian, confesses that
he was "fatigued with hunting for Christian goodness" in
the third century. Subsequently, when Christianity was
made the state religion and it became "the fashion of a lux-
urious and decaying society," holiness of life deteriorated at
a much more rapid pace. Then succeeded those days of ig-
norance and superstition, when "the common people too gen-
erally made religion to consist in adoring images, gathering
relics, hearing and telling legends of miracles, and in going
on pilgrimages;" when the monks, "passing through violent
and morbid reactions of feeling," plunged "from lives of ex-
travagant self-denial into the wildest excesses," becoming-
lawless fanatics ; when the bishops and the popes were too
much engrossed in acquiring and extending their temporal
dominion to correct the spiritual evils of the time.

Such being the state of religion from the death of the
Apostles through the Middle Ages, there was beyond doubt
a pressing need for a restoration of divine authority. But this
was, in the nature of things, impossible, not only because the
world was not in a position to appreciate it, but also because
the exclusiveness and intolerance of the church was so great.

XIV ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

First, she set her face aj:^ainst the heathen. No sooner had
Christianity been made the state rehgion than the practice of
idolatrous rites was forbidden, the pagan temples were de-
stroyed, and those who persisted in offering sacrifice to the
gods had their property confiscated and were themselves giv-
en to the edge of the sword. When, however, there were
no more heathen in the Empire to conquer, the church
turned her attention to the punishment of heresy. Athana-
sius was twice driven into exile, in the fourth century, for
teaching doctrines that were afterwards adopted by the
church, and would have suffered the extreme penalty had he
not been sheltered by friendly monks in lonely monasteries.
In the seventh century, one Constantine was put to death
for framing a system in opposition to the prevailing dogmas.
Later, it was considered a duty and a kindness to punish
heresy, since the temporal death of the heretic might save
him from eternal misery. In the early part of the thirteenth
century, certain sects, called the Albigenses, arose in South-
ern France, with a desire for purity of life ; and the reigning
pope, Innocent III., "at once proclaimed a crusade, offering
the sunny lands of the South, and heaven hereafter, to all
who would engage in the holy war." The entire party,
though numerous and formidable, was extirpated in this
bloody crusade. The disciples of Peter Waldo,~in 1170,
made a stand against the corruptions of the clergy; and they,
too, were subjected to a continued and cruel persecution.
The zeal of Huss and Jerome, in Bohemia, for practical holi-
ness, and their exaltation of the Scriptures above the tradi-
tions of the church, encompassed their untimely death, not-
withstanding the former had gone to his trial under the
plighted word of a temporal sovereign that he should be pro-
tected. The same fate would have overtaken Wycliff if he
had not been connected with the University of Oxford and
been under the special protection of Edward, to whose inter-

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. XV

est it was to preserve him from harm. Indeed the "Refor-
mation" itself would have been crushed had it not at the
very begrinnin^!^ assumed such proportions as to defy all the
destructive machinery of the church. The inquisition, or the
holv office,— "one of the most terrible eng-ines of intolerance
and tyranny which human ingenuity has ever devised" — ex-'
tended its frightful power into France, Spain, Italy, Ger-
many, and other countries, from the twelfth century, when
it arose, till past the middle of the eighteenth. For the Lord,
therefore, to restore to men, under these conditions, the
primitive Church unsullied by human touch, was either to
ex])ose it to immediate extirpation or to perform a series of
stupendous miracles in order to establish it and perpetuate
its existence on the earth.

In saying that the candle of the gospel was snuffed out
in the darkness and violence of the IMiddle Ages, we would
not be understood as meanino- thai the principles enunciated
by Jesus, but now buried deep in ignorance and superstition,
\ ^ •■(* to exercise no further influence on human conduct.
That would be grotesquely untrue. All we assert is that the
vital force of the Christian religion as it operates in the Spir-
itual salvation of man, was not to be found in the church of
this period. In other words, the holy priesthood, by which
man acts for Deity and by which alone the earthly and the
heavenly are connected, was entirely absent. Subsequently,
when the European mind awoke from this stupor, it picked
out here and there ideas of incalculable influence on the prog-
ress of civilization, purified life and morals, and raised man-
kind to a better stage than had prevailed at any time before.
But that did not restore divine authority. The true priest-
hood could come again to man only through a reopening of
the heavens.

XVI ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Remote Preparative Events.

Having given a brief description of the condition of the
church during the period of darkness in Europe, we have
now to trace the course of events which led the European
mind from this state of ignorance and intolerance to one
where the birth of the Last Dispensation might be possible
and its progress facilitated. It is not our purpose, however,
to enter into details respecting each particular movement. It
will be sufificient merely to point out the general tendency
and results of each. Our interest, too, will lie mainly with
those more obvious agencies in the preparation of the world
for the Restoration. And first of the remote events.

The first of these was the crusades. Extending over the
whole of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, they form the
period of transition from "the darkness and disorder of the
earlier time to the greater light and order of modern times."
It was an age of great excitement and stimulus, also of
revolution. "The energy and enthusiasm of the newly
formed people had no other channel in which to flow. There
was no other worthy object to which to devote themselves,
and they devoted themselves to this so long as these notions
and influences were not balanced by new and opposing
ones." The occasion of the crusades was Mohammedanism.
For ages Christians of the West had made pilgrimages to
the sacred places of Palestine unmolested, because the Holy
Land was then in the possession of the Church. But in the
eighth century it had been wrested from her hands by the
Mussulman. Pilgrims were therefore interfered with; and
so thc\' turned warriors to fight for the sepulchre of Christ,
riic emperor at Constantinople, threatened by a Saracen in-
vasion, furnished the intellectual impulse by his appeal for
aid to Pope IVban IT., and this was brought home to the
masses of Europe 1)\- the preaching ol Peter the Hermit, in
which he i)assionately detailed the sufferings of the Chris-

• GENERAL INTRODUCTION. XVll

tiaiis in Palestine. Historians have been in the habit of de-
scribing^ sometimes six, sometimes eight crusades not includ-
ing the children's. But the movement was in reality always
going" on. "Now and again a more than usually strong im-
pulse set special troops of armed men in motion towards the
Holy Land, but between these more impressive demonstra-
tions of the crusading spirit there was a continuous ebb and
flow of European enthusiasm and courage to and from the
East." The crusades may be regarded as one of the great
agencies of progress in Europe, (i) because they gave the
people who took part in them the advantages of travel,
bringing them in contact with the higher civilization of the
Arabians, thereby creating in the European mind a con-
sciousness that there was need of improvement if the West
would really claim the high rank in the world which it sup-
posed itself to occupy ; (2) because they exerted a wide in-
fluence upon commerce, affording a splendid opportunity for
Marco Polo and "a host of men almost equally deserving of
fame" to make geographical discoveries, which were in turn
to broaden immensely the European mind; and (3) because
they commenced a much-needed change from the feudal
state to our modern centralized governments.

A second step in the remote preparation of the world for
the gospel was what is generally known as the Revival of
Learning. Even before the crusades began, there had been
elements at work which turned the mind of Europe towards
the light. Charlemagne, in the eighth century, had estab-
lished schools and invited the best European scholars to his
court. Alfred the Great had done a similar work for the
English populace by his excellent translations of Latin au-
thors. Then scholasticism arose, which, v/hile it left un-
touched the dogmas of the church, nevertheless sharpened
the intellect of the West against the time when more profit-
a.l>lc subjects appeared tiian occupied the minds of Roger

XVIU ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Bacon and his contemporaries and disciples. In the thir-
teenth century the universities were founded, which enlarged
the basis of education and brought men together from differ-
ent parts of the world.

But these elements, doubtless, would not have accom-
plished their full share in bringing light and freedom were
it not for the stimulus which they received during the fif-
teenth century in what is known generally as the Renais-
sance. This was the great intellectual awakening, which oc-
curred in Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,
and which was occasioned by the discovery of some ancient
manuscripts and the unearthing of some ancient sculptures.
Then, in 1453, the fall of Constantinople drove many Greek
fugitives into Italy, where they and their literary treasures
were received with wild enthusiasm. The language and the
philosophy of Aristotle were thus restored in their purity ;
the scholars of Europe had placed before them the most
faultless models of style, the influence of which "in correct-
ing the extravagancies of the medieval imagination, tem-
pering the judgment, and forming correct literary tastes, can
be distinctly traced in all the native literatures of Europe."
On the heels of this discovery came the invention of the art
of printing — the most important, in the estimation of Hal-
lam, recorded in the annals of mankind, — which made it pos-
sible for all these manuscripts to be multiplied beyond the
most extravagant dreams of the cloistered copyist of a pre-
ceding age. It appears, indeed, that the invention of print-
ing from movable types was delayed till this period by a
special act of Providence ; for "without it, the Revival of
Learning must have languished, and the Reformation could
hardly have become a fact in history." This immense store
of knowledge within easy access, Europe was now well on
its way towards the period of criticism, in which everything
was subjected to close examination, except, indeed, the doc-

GENERAL INTRODLXTION. XlX

trines of the church, and these were to be savagely attacked
presently by intellects which had been sharpened in this very
process of scrutinizing everything else within the range of
literature.

Next came the religious revolution of the sixteenth cen-
tury, commonly, but improperly, known as the Reformation,
if by this term is meant a return to primitive Christianity.
This, according to Guizot, was "a movement of the liberty of
the human mind, a new necessity for freely thinking and
judging on its own account, of facts and ideas which hith-
erto Europe had received, or was held bound to receive, from
the hands of authority." Though the "Reformation" was
undoubtedly a movement within the limits of religion, still
its good effects were necessarily felt in other fields. Spring-
ing up almost at the same time in Germany and Switzerland,
it spread like a mighty tidal wave till it swept every country
and severed one-half of Europe from the dominion of the
Pope. "The national churches of Britain, Denmark, Swe-
den, Norway, and Holland, and many parts of Germany and
Switzerland, became separated from the church of Rome.
In other countries large bodies became detached from the
papacy without any national disruption from that church."

Four specific effects may be traced to this religious rev-
olution. First, it broke the spell which Rome had exercised
over the European mind. By the opening of the sixteenth
century, "all murmur and dissent had been suppressed by the
sword and the fagot, so that speaking in a very general
manner it would be correct to say that all the nations of
Western Europe professed the faith of the Latin or Roman
Church and yielded obedience to the papal see." But all dic-
tation from this quarter to Western Europe as a whole was
now at an end. An era of religious freedom was beginning
to dawn. Henceforth men would dare to express their con-
victions. To be sure, "heretics were still to be burned, but

XX OiNt. HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Speaking against the pope was declared no longer to be
heresy." And this was a great point. In the next place, the
"Reformation" emphasized the right of private judgment —
"a great inspiration," according to Lord, "which in after
times was destined to march triumphantly over battle fields,
and give dignity and power to the people, and lead to the re-
ception of great truths obscured by priests for one thousand
years ; the motive of an irresistable popular progress, plant-
ing England with Puritans, and Scotland with heroes, and
France with martyrs, and North America with colonists,
yea, kindling a fervid religious life; creating such men as
Knox and Latimer, and Taylor and Baxter and Howe, who
owe their greatness to the Scriptures — at last put into every
hand and scattered far and wide even to India and China."
Thirdly, the "Reformation" brought a return to the Bible as
the standard of judgment in all matters religious. Hitherto,
whatever doctrine had been pronounced heretical was so
done on the ground that it came in conflict with the decrees
of popes, the decisions of councils, or the traditions of the
church. Nothing was ever said about the written word of
God. But Luther and his fellow-reformers would not be
adjudged guilty of heresy unless the charge against them
could be proved from the Bible. "Unless you confute me,"
exclaimed the bold German at Worms, "by arguments drawn
from Scripture I cannot and will not recant anything."
Finally, the "Reformation" paved the way for a complete
separation of church and state. For centuries the political
institutions of Western Europe had been under ecclsiastical
control ; and even after the revolt of European princes
against temporal dictation by Rome, they never hesitated to
use the powers of the state in the suppression of heresy. But
the "Reformation" was the signal for a change in this re-
spect. Except for this result, it is doubtful whether we
should have had complete religious liberty in the United

GKXERAL INTRODUCTION. XXI

States ; for as Fisher remarks, "the Reformation made the
free Netherlands ; the Reformation made free England, or
was an essential agent in the work ; the Reformation made
the free Republic of America."

But in addition to intellectual freedom, brought about
by the Revival of Learning, and religious freedom, estab-
lished by the "Reformation" there was needed also political
freedom, which was the result of a series of political revolts
during the century and a half subsequent to the movement
we have just described. The rise of modern nations with
strong centralized governments, though of inestimable value
as agencies of progress had fixed some great evils upon so-
ciety. One of these was the doctrine of the divine right of
kings. According to this idea, "the nation is a great family
with the king as its divinely appointed head. If the king
does wrong, is harsh, cruel, unjust, this is simply the misfor-
tune of the people ; under no circumstances is it right for
them to rebel against his authority." Under the domination
of such an idea no popular progress could be attained, as wit-
ness France, in which, according to Thomas Jefferson, there
were at the close of the eighteenth century "nineteen millions
more wretched, more accursed in every circumstance of hu-
man existence, than the most conspicuously wretched indi-
vidual in the whole United States." But there came a change.
The people everywhere yearned for their rights as individ-
uals. Already, the invention of gunpowder had made "all
men of the same height ;" printing had contributed, by put-
ting a book into every man's hand, to raise his estimation of
himself; and the "Reformation" had increased this opinion
by teaching him that he was responsible to God alone for his
actions. It is not surprising, therefore, that subsequently the
people were all along endeavoring strenuously to wrest
something of concession from the kings. Now it was the
Netherlands making their superb struggle for free thought

XXU ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

and free government ; now it was Englishmen laying violent
hands on their king because, in his wrong-headedness, he
persisted in ignoring their rights ; now it was the American
colonies heroically battling, against great odds, for the doc-
trine of representation ; now it was French peasants rising
and, with frightful carnage, abolishing every ancient form
because it was associated with their down-trodden state. This
last event it was that sounded the death-knell of the divine-
rights theory. European rulers looked on aghast at the ter-
rible work of the French Revolutionists, and took active
measures to end it, knowing full well that their own fate
was bound up with that of the Bourbons. Of the storming
of the Bastile by the enraged populace of Paris, Fox ex-
claimed : "How much is this the greatest event that ever
happened in the world, and how much the best!"

Tlie Immediate Preparative Events. '

So much for the progress of the world from the darkness
and bondage of the Middle Ages to the light and freedom
of the nineteenth century. Coming nearer to our own times,
we shall find almost identically the same conditions, negative
and positive, that existed just before, and at the time of
Christ. And first, we must speak of the negative conditions.

Whoever will cast his eye over the field of religion in
modern times must see at once how barren of results mod-
ern Christianity is, and how completely it has failed, and is
failing, to meet the demands social and individual, made up-
on it by the peculiar conditions of modern life.

The churches have failed socially. Under our present
highly complex civilization many gigantic evils are per-
mitted to flourish. Among these — not to mention such com-
paratively minor ones as divorce and female prostitution, in-
temperance, and the alarming increase of crime, — are war
and the evils arising out of the relation between capital and

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. AXlll

labor. It has recently been estimated that the six great pow-
ers of Europe expend annually the immense sum of nine
hundred million dollars in maintaining- a "monstrous and
utterly barbarous system of national armament." The
meaning of this fact is, that ten millions of men in the prime
of Hfe are withdrawn from useful and productive labor, for
the support of whom as many millions of other able-bodied
men must toil. The inventive genius of a "Christian" race
is taxed to its utmost to make and improve implements of
war, whose only purpose is to destroy our species. If the
wars that are waged were for some noble purpose, such, for
example, as the promotion of human freedom, or some great
public enterprise, we might have more patience and tolera-
tion. But as it is, "these great armies are continually being
equipped at a cost that strains the resources even of the
most wealthy nations, for no higher purpose than that aris-
ing out of dynastic quarrels, having no sufficient cause, and
no relation whatever to the well-being of the communities
which are engaged in them. Never, perhaps, have the de-
grading influences of the war-spirit been more prominent
than in the last few years, when all the great Christian pow-
ers stood grimly by, while a civilized and Christian people
were subjected to the most cruel persecution, rapine, and
massacre by the direct order, or with the consent and ap-
proval, of the semi-barbarous Sultan of Turkey."

The same melancholy prospect faces us when we con-
template another evil of our times. Every year sees an actu-
al increase of wealth without a corresponding increase in the
well-being of the people. In England the total product of
labor is divided between one million persons on the one side
and twenty-six millions on the other, the one million receiv-
ing twice as much as the twenty-six million. In America the
inequality is still greater, there being four thousand and
forty-seven families of the rich who own about five times as

XXIV ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

nuich property as six and one-half million families of the
poor. Tens of thousands of human beings in all our large
cities live in wretchedness and squalor, tens of thousands
more are compelled to toil from twelve to seventeen hours
a day under the most unsanitary conditions, in order to earn
enough to support themselves and those dependent upon
them. Many of our greatest writers and clearest thinkers,
observing these two facts alone, "have plainly declared that
our social system has broken down."

Now, what has modern Christianity done to remedy or
remove these conditions? Very little, indeed. To be sure,
she has visited the battlefield and administered comfort to
the wounded and dying; she has gone to the slums of our
great cities and distributed her charity. But that is almost
all. Toward removing the source of these evils, she has not
so much as attempted to lift her hand. No great movement
in modern times, has originated with the Chruch. They have
all sprung up outside of it. This is a terrible indictment
against the religion which exerted the controlling influence
in human affairs for more than a thousand years, and which
was established for the sole purpose of redeeming the world
from the grasp of sin. And yet who will deny its truth?
The churches have withdrawn from the active field of con-
flict; they are no longer in touch with the living, moving
world of men and women ; they look down complacently
from their high pedestal of dead theology upon the strug-
gling throng of men and women without attempting to do
anything but administer a modicum of consolation. Not
only so. But modern Christianity has to answer to the
charge of actually encouraging some of these evils. 'Tn
public questions," declares Frederick Harrison, an English
philosopher and man of letters, "in politics, in legislation, in
tone of public life, the organized Christian churches do not
do good, but do evil," And he goes on to say that not only

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. XXV

have they failed to check "the immense development of the
spirit of aggression and the resort to war." but that in most
of the wars of the past thirty or forty years they have in too
many cases "been foremost, more eager than soldiers or
princes, to hound on the war spirit, to gloat over the defeat
of opponents, and to justify every case of injustice." "The
endowed, established, and incorporated Christian bodies,"
he continues, "are found, whether in history, — for many
centuries past, — whether in our own land or in other Euro-
pean countries, whether Cataholic, Episcopalian, or Luther-
an, or Calvinist, to make — not for righteousness in nations,
but for the ascendency of classes, the rivalry of nations, and
the maintenance of abuses."

Can any person familiar with these facts doubt that a
religion is needed that can stem the tide of these modern evils
of our social system ? Many who have studied the question
have pronounced most definitely for primitive Christianity.
"The churches of the New Testament," exclaims one writer,
"are the only societies that can save the world." All these
facts bespeak the total inadequacy of modern religions to
meet the demands of our society.

But "Christianity" has also failed to meet the require-
ments of the individual. Like the creeds that encumbered
the world at the time of Christ, it has signally failed to an-
swer the expectations of the soul. And since this is primar-
ily the field set apart for religion, this charge is even more
grave than the one we have just considered.

According to Huber, who published his estimates in
1884, the world's total population is divided as follows:
Christians, four hundred and thirty-two millions ; Moham-
medans, one hundred and twenty-millions ; Jews, eight mil-
lions ; Brahminical believers, one hundred and thirty-eight
millions ; Buddhists, five hundred and three millions ; and
fetich-worshippers, two hundred and thirty-four millions.

XXVlll ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the eighteenth century, "the pastor of Gielsdorf, who open\v
denied Christianity, and taught simply that morahty was
necessary, the High Consistory of BerHn held that he was,
nevertheless still fitted to hold his office as Lutheran pastor
of his village." Clergymen in our own times continue to
hold their place in the churches, who have discarded the doc-
trine of a personal God as an inessential part of the religion
of Jesus. And everybody knows that few Episcopalian and
Calvinist ministers subscribe without reservation to the ar-
ticles of their creeds, to promulgate which they are bound by
a solemn covenant.

Such general dissatisfaction with the churches would in
part, account for the expectancy which prevailed in the first
([uarter of the nineteenth century, respecting the work which
the Lord was about to establish among men. We read of
numerous small societies organized in different parts of both
England and America for the purpose of discussing the need
of the same spiritual gifts and powers that characterized the
ancient Church. Such was the society to which the late
President John Taylor belonged in Canada. Then, too, men
arose both here and across the waters, who, by teaching
faith, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of
sin. and other doctrines afterwards enunciated by "Mormon-
i.sm,"" proved special messengers sent to prepare the way for
a greater. Such were Fielding. ]\Iatthcws, and Aitkin, in
England, and Alexander Campbell, in the United States.
Moreover, religious bodies were formed with a view to wait-
ing for the New Church, which they felt sure was about to
come. The Urtited P.rethren in Herefordshire, England,
numbering six hundred and including forty preachers of
various denominations, is an instance of such a society; and
hence when the late President ^^'ilford Woodruff appeared
among them, by a special divine request, they joined the
church, recognizing it at once as that for which they had

GENERA!. INTRODUCTION. XXIX

been waiting. Individuals, too, had strange premonitions as
to the then forth-coming work of God. Robert Mason, in
Connecticut, related to President Woodruff, then a boy, a
vision which he had received in 1800, to the effect that the
Lord in the next generation would set up his Church with
apostles, prophets, and the gifts of the Spirit. Here, then, is
precisely the same feeling on the part of thousands in this
age respecting the Latter-day Restoration as was felt by
many prior to the days of Christ regarding his birth.

But there are positive conditions favorable to the estab-
lishment and growth of this Last Dispensation as remark-
able as existed at the opening of the Christian Era.

The first of these is the striking circumstances connect-
ed with the settlement and growth of the United States. It
appears singularly providential that America should have
remained hidden to the European world until after its recov-
ery from the torpor of the Dark Ages, that its settlement
should have been postponed until a more favorable period
than existed at the time of its discovery, and that, most of
all, only the English race should be able to plant successful
colonies on the shores of the New World. It is not difficult
to conceive what the American nation would be toda}- if it
had been established before the Reformation, and especially
before the "Elizabethan period in England, the Luther per-
iod in Germany, and the splendid struggle of the Dutch for
liberty in Holland ;" or if it had been founded by any people
speaking the Romance languages and swearing allegiance
to the Roman Catholic Church. Instead of enterprise and
invention, industrial and material progress, which now char-
acterize our nation, we should have the strange torpidity of
national life and the almost perfect paralysis of individual
enterprise which mark the countries that have remained
most completely under the yoke of the ecclesiastical domitn'on
of Rome. But, as it was, the settlement of the United States

XXX ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

was deferred till such a time as conditions were favorable to
the growth of a free Republic under English laws, Englisii
customs, and the English language. Nay, that settlement
was delayed till the American colonists could have come
from England at a time when, in the language of Burke,
"the spirit of liberty was high in the mother country, and in
the emigrants was the highest of all." There was needed a
land where conditions would foster the growth of freedom,
religious and political, to an extent impossible in the Old
World. And new environments — high mountains, broad
plains, extensive forests, and an atmosphere untainted by the
past — created in America out of a heterogeneous population
such a nation as would not crush the new faith. Freedbm is
inherent in our pure air, and virgin soil. In this country
"the great principle of religious toleration is better under-
stood and more firmly established than in any other nation
of the earth." Indeed, it is extremely doubtful whether the
Restoration could have secured a footing in any other coun-
try under heaven, even after the establishment of modern
principles of fredom, as witness the present attitude of en-
lightened Germany respecting the preaching of the gospel
there by the Latter-day Saints.

Singularly enough, too, in the first quarter of the last
century, in which the great First Vision of the Prophet oc-
curred, the mental lethargy of the American mind gave way
to an "expansion of intellect and a fertility of invention that,
in the life of one generation (1800-1830), transformed the
American people into the energetic race it has ever since
been." Moreover, from the beginning this nation has been
unconsciously seconding the work of gathering which "Mor-
monism" has been teaching under stress of divine command ;
for it has brought to America people from every civilized na-
tion of the earth. It was not. therefore, by mere chance
that the Church was planted in the United States instead of

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. XXXI

in England, in France, or in Germany ; for in that event peo-
ple would have been going away from "Mormonism" instead
of coming to it all the time as now. Surely, there is some-
Vhing more than a simple co-incidence in all this.

A second series of events that have tended to create con-
ditions propitious to the progress of the New Dispensation
is to be found in the marvelous extension of the English
speaking race, and in consequence, of the English tongue.
There is certainly something more than chance in the fact
that the Book of Mormon and the numerous other revela-
tions to the Church in our day were given in the English
language, and that the Restoration of the gospel occurred in
the United States, apart from the fact that it is the freest
country on the earth. The "Anglo-Saxon" race, and the
English language are doing for the modern world essentially
what the Roman Empire and the Latin tongue accomplished
for the ancient world. In her civilizing power the English
race is exerting an incalculable influence upon the nations,
and is creating, by her numerous inventions, a bond of sym-
pathy between them such as never before existed. To be
sure, we may say that she is best fitted of any nation for this
work. We mav affirm, for instance, with perfect truth that
she is the great religious race, as appears from her vigorous
missionary spirit, her healthy moral enthusiasm, and her do-
mestic character ; that she is the great intellectual race, as
testified to in her power to work out great problems in gov-
ernment, and also In her long, continuous literary history
with world-famoMs names ; that she is the great organizing
race, as witnessed by her important mechanical inventions
and her ability to make the best use of natural resources ;
and, finally, that she is the great liberty-loving and -conserv-
ing race, having cultivated the spirit of freedom to a higher
point than any other nation. But the facts remain that she
is the superior race of modern times and that God has chosen

XXXll ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

her as a medium throug^h which to convey his Truth in these
days to mankind. He is using her, as he did Rome in ancient
times, as a means of preparing men the better to receive the
New Dispensation of the gospel. From a few milHons, two
hundred years ago, occupying the narrow boundaries of
Britain, she has pushed out successively into new countries
till now she extends her colonies to India and Africa and
covers the vast continents of Australia and the Americas ;
whereas other peonies are relatively declining in number
and influence.

The same great things may be said of the English
tongue. "The progress of humanity," avers Dr. Philip
SchafiF, "requires the preponderance of one language as a
common medium of intercourse and a connecting link be-
tween the various members of the civilized world." And
English is this common medium, this connecting link. In
the eighteenth century, "French was the only one modern
language an educated man in England, in Spain, or in Italy,
needed to acquire." But this supremacy now belongs to
"Anglo-Saxon." One can scarcely go anywhere in civil-
ized countries without meeting people who are able to con-
verse with him in English. Here, too, we may affirm with
truth that it is because this language is the fittest to occupy
this position — that it is the most intellectual tongue, for in-
stance, the most easily learned, the most nractical, the most
forcible, succinct, and assimilative, containing the "cream
and essence of its predecessors and contemporaries." But
the facts remain here, too, that it is rapidly becoming the
world-language and that God has chosen it as his language,
the tongue in which to communicate his message to the na-
tions. And, strangest of all, in connection with the expan-
iion of the English people and the growth of the English
language, both have occurred since the Restoration of the
f^ospel in the first quarter of the nineteenth century.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. XXXlll

Finally, there are the increased facilities of traveling and
of communicating knowledge, a special characteristic of our
nineteenth century civilization. From the earliest times al-
most to the present there has occurred "absolutely no change
in the methods of human locomotion," so that "an ancient
Greek or Roman, Egyptian, or Assyrian, could travel as
quickly and as conveniently as could Englishmen down to
the latter part of the eighteenth century. It was mainly a
question of roads, and till the beginning of the nineteenth
century, our roads were for the most part inferior to those
of the Romans. It is, therefore, not improbable that during
the Roman occupation of Britain the journey from London
to New York could have been made actually quicker than a
hundred and fifty years ago." So likewise there has oc-
curred no change until recently, in navigation. "From the
earliest dawn of history men used rowing or sailing vessels
for coasting trade or for crossing narrow seas." These were
improved till ships were obtained in which a Vasco de Gama
might sail round the Cape of Good Hope and a Columbus
cross the broad and turbulent Atlantic. Similarly, too, man
from the beginning has been, until within our own period,
limited to personal messengers and later to the art of writing
for the communication of thought; and though great im-
provements were made in these methods, still no change oc-
curred during thousands of years in the principle underlying
them. But within the short space of fifty years, travel by
land and by water and communication of thought have
been revolutionized by the application of altogether new
principles. The civilized w^orld is covered with a network
of railroads, on which, by means of the steam locomotive,
we are enabled to travel at the rate of seventy miles an hour,
with safety and convenience; the distance between New
York and Liverpool can be covered by the steamship in five
days, whereas formerly it required thirty or forty; with the

XXXIV ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

electric telegraph we are enabled "to communicate with
friends at the other side of the globe almost as rapidly and as
easily as if they were in different parts of the same town ;"
and the telephone makes it possible actually to hear the hu-
man voice, with "all its countless modifications of quality
and musical tone," for the distance of a thousand miles.
Thus "during the nineteenth century three distinct modes of
locomotion have been originated and brought to a high de-
gree of perfection," whereas "up to the very times of men
now living, all our locomotion was on the same old lines
which had been used for thousands of years," and "two dis-
tinct modes of communication with persons at a distance
have been discovered and brought into practical use, both of
which are perfectly new departures from the methods which,
with but slight modifications, had been in use since that early
period when picture-writing or hieroglyphics were first in-
vented." All of this has created facilities for preaching the
gospel to the nations of the earth which a hundred years ago
was undreamed of, and has made it possible for the Lord in
this age of the world, to accomplish more in a few years
than he could have done before in centuries.

The New Dispensation of the Gospel.

It was in such an age as this that the gospel was restored to
man with the priesthood and all the gifts and powers ever
enjoyed by the Church. The New Dispensation was ushered
in by that magnificent vision to the boy Prophet in which
God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son appeared in trans-
cendent glory. Subsequently, the veil was removed from
the Americas and the world was permitted to witness the
marvelous dealings of God with their ancient inhabitants.
And still later the Priesthood of the Son of God conferred
upon living men by John the Baptist and by the ancient Apos-
tles Peter, James, and John ; the Church of Christ once more

GEXKRAL INTRODUCTION'. XXXV

organized on the earth ; and the messengers of peace sent to
all the world.

But "Alornionism" is not a new religion in the sense
that it is something different from the gospel of Christ and
hence something to supersede it as the Sermon on the Mount
supplanted the Mosaic Law. It is the Christianity of Jesus
as contra-distinguished from the Christianity that sprang up
in the Middle Ages and that now prevails throughout the
world ; it is the old gospel restored, the woman returned
from the wilderness, whence she was driven by the foul
breath of the beast.

And "Mormonism" is proud of the distinction of being
the American religion. She loves the soil and the nation
that gave her birth. With her first breath she consecrated
this land as choice above all other lands, proclaimed that it
had been dedicated in the councils of eternity as the abode of
freedom, and annoimced that our national Constitution had
been written with the pen of inspiration. What matters it
that she is spurned by the nation that presided at her birth —
what that America disdains to accept salvation at her hands ?
So did Judea and Rome refuse Peace at the hand of the Mas-
ter. But whether or not this Modern Faith is recognized by
the nation that saw its infant appearance, "Mormonism" will
continue to be proud of her inheritance, proud of her birth,
and proud of the country in which she has chosen to make
her home.

CoJicliisioii.

And now we have completed our examination of the ele-
ments that prepared the world for the New Dispensation.
We have seen that, in the meridian of time Jesus Christ es-
tablished his Church among men, but that, in the darkness
and superstition that followed, coupled with the unfavorable
conditions that prevailed during the Dark Ages, the light of

XXXVl ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the gospel was utterly extinguished. We have considered
the principle points in the progress of western Europe from
ignorance and bondage to light and liberty, — from a
stage in which the Restoration would have been effect-
ually crushed before it could secure a footing, to a time when
a combinatioin of felicitous circumstances, not only made it
possible, but actually favored its growth and extension. And
we have observed, as we approached our day, that there were
almost identically the same negative and positive conditions
prevailing at the introduction of the gospel that were pres-
ent in the ancient world at the establishment of Christianity,
— negative, in the divided and powerless state of the church-
es calling themselves after Christ ; positive in the unification
of the world under the expansion of the English race and
the English language, in the increased facilities for travel
and the communication of thought, and in the general ex-
pectancy regarding some great religious event then in the
future.

Can anyone who believes at all in an over-ruling prov-
idence in pre-Christian history fail to recognize the hand of
God in all this movement of events? Can any believer in
the Scriptures persuade himself that this is all chance, mere
purposeless evolution, that there is no significance in this
strange shifting of historic scenery? Is it not as clear that
God is using nations today to bring about his great ends as
it is that he used ancient peoples to accomplish his pur-
poses ?

If it be objected that the end in this instance is unwor-
thy the means, that it is altogether too insignificant for such
an extensive preparation, I would answer: Uninspired man
is wholly disqualified, by reason of his narrow range of
vision, when it comes to estimating the relative importance
of contemporary occurrences. It is only after the lapse of
centuries that he is able to pick out the significant facts, those

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. XXXVU

facts which influence the course of history. The birth of a
poor Jewish peasant in Palestine nineteen hundred years ago
would probably have been the last thing to occur to an intel-
ligent Roman, if he were asked to name the most important
event of his times. With respect to the present, therefore,
scarcely less than with respect to the past and the future,
man is utterly poor, and blind, and naked. The thing which
he today elevates to the greatest height as most likely to
change the course of events, will tomorrow probably be as
obscure and unknown as if it had never occurred ; while that
which he now spurns as too mean and contemptible for his
notice, will influence men's conduct as long as time shall en-
dure. Let no one, therefore, look upon this rehgion as in-
significant merely because to some it looks so. Emerson's
keen penetration may have spoken truth when it told him
that "Mormonism is the only religion of power and vitality
that has made its appearance for the past twelve hundred
years." A religion that has transformed a desert into a
garden, penetrated every corner of the earth with its mes-
sage, and established in the hearts of hundreds of thousands
a living faith in the obnoxious doctrine of new revelation
from God, at a time when faith was decaying, and all in the
teeth of continued, violent opposition, is certainly not to be
despised on the score of life and energy.

But "Mormonism" itself is only a part of God's prepar-
ation for that great world-event, the Personal Reign of
Christ on the Earth. The Bible assures us that in the sev-
en thousandth year the earth shall rest, that universal peace
shall come, when swords shall be beaten into plow shares,
and spears into pruning hooks, that the law shall go forth
from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; after
all which, the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the
earth be cleansed and made like a urim and thummim for the
abode of those who have made their robes white in th?

XXXVlll ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

blood of the Lamb. Surely, this is an event of sufficient
magnitude to justify this long preparation. But the mission
assigned to the Restoration is so important that the
millennium would be totally impossible without it; for that
mission is to prepare men and the world for the period of
peace, so that Christ's query to his disciples shall not be left
meaningless : "When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find
faith in the earth?"

One Hundred Years of Mormonism

PART FIRST.

Opening of the New Dispensation.

CHAPTER I.

LIGHT FROM HEAVEN.

"Mormonism" very properly dates its beginning fron.'
an event — the most important in its history — that occurred in
the western part of New York State, in the year 1820. But
before passing to a description of this opening scene, it will
be proper to call attention to a few points in the general
condition of the country at the time, in the state of society
and religion that prevailed in the particular region where this
event happened, and in the antecedents and boyhood of the
principal actor, Joseph Smith.

The Country in General.

Our nation was then in its infancy, for not more than thirty-
one years had elapsed since the adoption of the Constitution.
Speaking in general of the period from 1789 to 181 5 — and
but slight modification need be made for the succeeding five
years — one historian calls it a third-rate power, and observes
further that "in population and wealth it was decidedly in-
ferior to the Belgium of our day, and about on a level with
Denmark or Portugal." The inhabited part of the country,
over which were scattered upwards of nine millions of peo-
ple, formed almost a perfect triangle with the base lying
along the Atlantic seaboard and the vertex in central Mis-
souri. Twenty-two States made up the Union, Maine hav-

Z ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

ing been the last admitted. And beyond these to the west
ejvtended the monster plains and mountains, sleeping in
silence, which the most sanguine of those days never even
vaguely dreamed of as worthy of being waked into grain-
fields and pasture-land. The vast quiet of these western
parts, now echoing confusedly to the din of populous towns
and cities, had not been disturbed except by the dismal howl
of the wolf, the war-cry of the painted savage, or the occa-
sional crack of the rifle in the hands of the solitary trapper.
The eastern portion of the country had been for some time
free from the danger of Indian attacks, but tales of massa-
cres by the fierce and stealthy Redman continued to come
from the borderland of civilization.

In other respects, too, our country presented to those
who lived during the first few years of the last century a
different aspect from that which we look upon who see the
dawn of the twentieth. Philadelphia, the largest city, con-
tained fewer than fifty thousand inhabitants, and New York,
Boston, and Baltimore followed with even a smaller popula-
ticn. Of these four cities the first two were the trading cen-
ters. The locomotive was scarcely more than an idea in the
brain of the great English inventor ; Fulton had only within
recent years performed the incredible feat of launching the
first steamboat on the waters of the Hudson ; and it was to
be many years before time and space were to be annihilated
by the electric telegraph. Hence travel was slow and diffi-
cult, being accomplished mainly on horseback and by stage-
coach, the rude wagon of the period not having come into
general use. "It took a week to go from Boston to New
York in a stage-coach, and all large rivers, such as the Con-
necticut, had to be crossed in boats, as none of them had
bridges." Hence, too, there prevailed in each part of the
country a general ignorance as to what was going on in
every other part. No national sentiment, like that which

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. O

unifies the nation today, bound together the different States
into a compact whole. People moved about very little, ex-
cept when they sought new homes in the West. Travel to
foreign countries was rare ; during the earlier years of the
century, a stranger's presence was always remarked upon in
the streets of Philadelphia, and a man who had been to Eu-
rope was the object of universal envy and curiosity. Balls
were given only in the larger centres of population; very
little attention was paid to music, the harpischord being the
favorite, if not almost the only musical instrument common-
ly in use. Theatres were rare and almost universally disap-
proved as a source of public amusement. Imprisonment for
debt had only recently been abolished by law. By far the
larger number of those marvelous inventions that have done
so much to bring the ends of the earth together and to raise
the masses to a higher plane of living, were yet a long way in
the future. In our day everybody reads, if it is only a news-
paper or a poster; in that early period, few books, none by
American authors, found their way to the book-shelf of even
the "best families," and the day of the newspaper and the
magazine was but just beginning to dawn.

If we glance at a list of the public characters in 1820 and
thereabouts, we shall find a good many names that are famil-
iar to the lips of every American schoolboy of our day. The
august figure of Washington had indeed disappeared some
twenty years since, but there remained others who had per-
formed a lasting benefit to the New Republic in the recent
struggle for national existence. Some of the men who had
signed the Declaration of Independence and framed the
Constitution, might still have been seen walking the streets.
JefiFerson and John Adams had yet six years before them;
the death of Chief Justice Jay was not to occur till 1829;
Andrew Jackson had already won those dashing successes
which, nine years later, obtained for him the president"! I

4 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

chair ; Madison, the famous reporter of the great convention,
was in his sixty-fifth year, with sixteen years to look forward
to. The national legislature was at this time convulsed by
discussions on slavery, which brought into prominence the
celebrated trio, Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, and produced in
this very year the famous Missouri Compromise. Washing-
ton Irving, "the first ambassador of letters from the New
World to the Old," had just made a name in England by the
publication of his inimitable Sketch Book.

Across the waters were some more notables. George the
Fourth, occupied the throne of England. The great victor
of Waterloo was the most conspicuous figure in the English
army and politics ; and Napoleon, who but recently had held
at bay the combined forces of Europe, was eking out his
last days on the lonely island of St. Helena. Keats had just
published his "Endymion," Shelley his "Skylark" and "The
Cloud ;" Byron had become the lion of England by the pub-
lication of those exquisite Grecian lyrics that so signally
eclipsed the author of "Marmion" and the "Lady of the
Lake ;" Scott, striking out in another and original field, had
just written the greatest romance in the language; and
Wordsworth and Coleridge were yet in the flush of their
literary careers.

One more fact in the record of the period deserves
special mention. The administration of Monroe, which in-
cludes the year 1820, is characterized by historians as the
Era of Good-feeling. The nation was just lifting its head
after the depression and hard times of the preceding few
years. And now for the only time in the history of our
country, not only before this year, but after, the atmosphere
was clear of political clouds. In the election of 1820 — the
very year we are now considering — there was only one
presidential candidate before the public, James Monroe ; and
he was permitted to take his seat for a second term with

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 5

only one vote against him, and that merely because of a ro-
mantic notion entertained by one of the electors that Wash-
ington should not be deprived of the honor of having been
the only president chosen without a dissenting voice in the
electoral college. It should be noted further that a new di-
rection was given at this time to public affairs ; for primary
questions from now on were to grow out of a universal de-
sire for internal improvement, instead of war as in the past.

Western New York State.

The western part of the great Empire State was then in ev-
ery essential particular a pioneer district. Within the decade
lying between 1810 and 1820, immigration had brought into
existence three hundred new towns and sixty new villages,
requiring the organization of eight new counties. This part
of the country, thinly inhabited as compared with parts lying
eastward, was then covered by a heavy growth of timber,
which the farmers were busily engaged in removing as they
had need of the land. The people, though possessed of the
characteristic shrewdness and energy of Yankee pioneers,
were mostly illiterate ; being, in fact, such a class as even in
our days have been seen to push into new districts. Their
mode of life was proportionately simple. Most of the
houses were small and rudely constructed, having been hur-
riedly put together of unhewn logs but lately standing in the
forest. The homely meal was cooked over the old-fashioned
fireplace, and eaten from wooden or pewter dishes. The ex-
cessive cost of transporting merchandise from one part of
the country to another made it necessary for the westerners
of this period to content themselves with few articles of lux-
ury. Educational facilities, as might be imagined, were
meagre. There stood, of course, by the country roadside the
rude log schoolhouse "sunning like a beggar," with little
else for furnishing than a few split logs, which, set on wood-

6 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

en pegs, served for desks and benches. The "master," not
infrequently a man of small learning, taught on a starving
pittance, boarding and lodging with each patron of the
school according to the number of children in the home.
The family library consisted usually of the Bible, Pilgrim's
Progress, Rollin's Ancient History, and the well-thumbed
speller and reader. News from the rest of the world was
confined mostly to what could be learned from the weekly
or even monthly newspaper, which, owing to the extreme
irregularity of the mail service, had not unlikely been sev-
eral weeks on the way. In short, the life of the ordinary
western New Yorker of those days must have been essen-
tially the same as that which we might see today in some of
our western districts far removed from the railway and with
the conveniences resulting from modern inventions sub-
tracted.

Religion played a more important part in the daily life of
Americans during the first quarter of the nineteenth century
than it does today. And this was true in a special sense of
the western part of New York at this time. Everybody
went to church and read the Bible. Infidelity was looked
upon with grave suspicion, not only that attitude of mind
which openly mocks at all religion, but that also which finds
more pleasure on the Sabbath day in sport or idleness than
in going to church. Religious disputes were common,
though questions of mere dogma drew more attention than
the fundamental doctrines of salvation or than any matter of
great moral significance. There were, in addition, many
people who believed that the same spiritual gifts and mani-
festations of divine power and wisdom, such as according to
the New Testament, characterized the ancient Church,
should be received in our day ; but this idea was by no
means peculiar to this locality. Revivals, when there
occurred a lapse in spirituality, were prolonged and

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM, 7

enthusiastic. Historians of the period have given us
graphic pictures of how the people would leave
their farms in the busiest season of the year for
whole days together and travel many miles in order to at-
tend a revival meeting. The atmosphere of this particular
region was therefore highly saturated with religion.

During the winter -of 1819 this religious spirit broke out,
in the neighborhood of Manchester, Wayne county, into a
revival of unusual proportions. All the churches in that pait
of the country joined in the work of conversion, it being the
understanding that, in the end, the converts might embrace
the sect of their choice. This revival extended into the
spring of the following year. It began, we are
told, with the Methodists, but spread from them to other
churches and from the town of Manchester to adjacent
towns, till the whole country for miles around presented a
scene of the wildest excitement and confusion. And this
work was continued till everyone that had not "experienced
religion" had been either converted, or shown himself to be
beyond hope. At the time when the excitement ran highest
and all denominations were striving for one common object
— namely, the securing of the necessary change of heart in
the sinner — good enough feelings prevailed among the
members of the various churches. But when the time came
for the converted to decide what sect they should join, all
this peace and harmony strangely disappeared. Each party
being anxious to increase its own following, there was a ri-
valry of claims, which, pressed as they were with bitterness,
tended to confuse the minds of sincere converts. Some
cried, "Lo, here is Christ!" and others, "Lo there!" until
the wisest might well be puzzled to know where the truth
lay. Each sect, moreover, extolled its own virtues and de-
cried the virtues of every other. So that what good the re-
vivals might have accomplished in the way of turning men

9 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

from their sins and directing their footsteps in the narrow
path, was unhappily transformed into positive harm in the
strife that followed ; for it was impossible but that such con-
duct on the part of the clergy and religious partisans gen-
erally, would give rise to fresh doubts in the minds of those
who earnestly sought the truth, as to the precise amount of
divinity there was to be found in any of the prevailing re-
ligious creeds.

The Smiths and the Macks.

At this time there lived at Manchester a family whose name
was destined to be pronounced for good or evil wherever
the word "Mormonism" might penetrate. This was the
Smith family. It consisted, at the time, of the parents, Jo-
seph and Lucy, and eight children, whose names were : Al-
vin, Hyrum, Sophronia, Joseph, Samuel, William, Cather-
ine, and Don Carlos. According to all accounts, they were
poor, though their poverty was not that abject sort which
marks the lazy and shiftless, but only that kind which char-
acterizes all pioneers of a new country. The father and the
older boys worked on their newly-purchased farm of sixteen
acres, clearing and otherwise preparing it for cultivacinn,
while the mother helped to furnish provisions and replen-
ish the small stock of household furniture by painti:ig oil-
cloth coverings for tables, stands, and similar articles. They
were therefore a hard-working and economical family.

They had not however, always lived at Manchester, nor
had they always been thus poor. Theirs had been a life full
of strange vicissitudes, which they had been unable to com-
prehend while passing through them, but the value and
meaning of which they came to see clearly enough in the
light which subsequent events reflected upon the earlier part
of their lives. Tunbridge, Orange county, Vermont, had

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 9

been their first home. Here it was that Joseph had met and,
in January, 1796, married Lucy Mack.

The Smiths and the Macks had for several generations
been counted among the most thrifty and respected farmers
of New England. Their genealogy stretched back into the
days of early immigration to America, and both families had
furnished to the Colonial and Revolutionary Wars brave and
earnest soldiers whose blood, mingling with that of their
compatriots, fertilized the soil whereon was to spring up the
tree of liberty and equal rights. The early home of the
Smith family was in Massachusetts ; that of the Macks, in
Connecticut, from w^iich States both families had been
driven by reverses in fortune. Lucy's grandparents had
been well-to-do while living in their native State, and her
father had received, therefore, a tolerable education. It ap-
pears from his biography, composed towards the end of an
active life, that Solomon Mack was a man of energy and
character, with a faculty for narrating his military exploits
in a manly and entertaining style. He served with credit
in the Colonial Wars and also in the war with England. At
the age of twenty-five or six he married Lydia Gates, a
school-mistress, the daughter of a well-to-do family. To
this couple were born eight children, including Lucy, several
of whom became men and women of more than usual ability.
Stephen, a man of no common energy, business acumen, in-
telligence, and patriotism, won honors in the Revolutionary
War. Subsequently he settled in Michigan, where he be-
came one of the founders of Detroit, and where he after-
wards owned and operated large and successful mercantile
establishments, and held political positions. It is related
that while residing at Tunbridge he and his partner in busi-
ness gave Lucy one thousand dollars as a marriage present.
Lydia married into a family of wealth and intelligence.
Jason was a zealous preacher and missionary all his life.

10 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Lucy, herself, born at Gilsum, Cheshire county. New Hamp-
shire, just four days after the Declaration of Independence,
was a woman of character and piety. At several stages of
her married life while her husband was away from home, we
find her exhibiting a talent for managing affairs that indi-
cates a good deal of natural tact and wisdom. Of the Smith
family, not so much is known. They were of English de-
scent, the earliest American progenitor, Robert Smith, having
come from England before the middle of the seventeenth
century. It appears that they too were farmers, respected
by their neighbors and measurably prosperous in this world's
affairs, and that several of their number rendered voluntary
and honorable service to their country in the Colonial Wars
and in the struggle for national independence. A letter
written by Asael Smith, grandfather of the Prophet, to a
friend in Massachusetts, in 1796, reveals no small amount of
intelligence, prosperity, independence of character, and a
faith that God would over-rule events for the best good of
the new government. Inter-marrying with some of the best
families of New England — and we make the statement on
the strength of the names which appear on the female side
of the house — they were thus desirable citizens of the grow-
ing nation. The strength of both the Smiths and the Macks,
therefore, lies in their having belonged to the energetic and
successful tillers of the soil, to that class of people which
constitutes the backbone of the American nation, and of any
nation.

Moreover, the records of both families proclaim them to
have had a s' "ong and well-defined religious character. They
believed firmly and positvely in God and in the Bible, and
endeavored to make their lives conform to the teachings of
the Holy Scriptures. It is a point worthy of notice here
that in both families there were men and women who were
considered heterodox in some respects by their contempor-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. ll

aries. Their faith was not, therefore, of that unreasoning
kind which' accepts unqtiestioningly every religious tenet
merely because it happens to find a place in some particular
creed. Instances are recorded of the simple faith and devo-
tion on the part of the younger Joseph's ancestors, on both
sides of the family, that are touching and beautiful. Jason
Mack, as we have already stated, was a preacher and mis-
sionary, though unorthodox in some respects ; he believed
"that by prayer and faith the gifts of the gospel, which were
enjoyed by the ancient disciples of Christ, might be obtained
by the followers of Jesus in modern days." A very pathetic
description has been left us of the piety of the sisters Lovisa
and Lovina Mack under the shadow of an early death; and
fragments of verse remaining attest the poetic, as well as
the religious, inclinations of the latter. In one instance,
there appears to have been a distinct premonition on the part
of a member of the Smith family — Asael, the father of the
elder Joseph — concerning the work which the Lord was
about to project in the earth. "It has been borne in upon my
soul," he is known to have remarked, "that one of my de-
scendants will promulgate a work to revolutionize the world
of religious faith." This premonition he lived long enough
to see partly realized, for shortly before his death, he was
presented with a copy of the Book of Mormon, which he ac-
cepted as a divine revelation, "and with the light of inspira-
tion which sometimes illumines the mind of man as the veil
of eternity opens to his gaze, Asael solomnly warned his at-
tendants to give heed to the book, for it was true, and its
coming forth heralded a renewal of gospel l'*jht."

At Tunbridge where, as already noted, Lucy had met
Joseph while she was on a visit to her brother Stephen, the
couple were married, settling in easy circumstances on their
own farm. But they were not long to remain so. After six
years Joseph rented his farm and engaged in the business of

12 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Store-keeping. Investing beyond his means in crystalized
ginseng, which at the time commanded a high price in
China, he sent a quantity of this article across the waters.
Had no ill-fortune intervened, he would have realized sev-
eral times the amount of his investment: but as it was a
"friend" and "neighbor" cunningly cheated him out of both
the profits and the original sum, leaving him in consequence
involved in debt. To pay the obligations held against him
on this and other accounts, he sold his farm at less than its
real value; and the money thus obtained, together with
Lucy's marriage gift of one thousand dollars, which she had
carefully treasured, served to liquidate all their indebted-
ness. But they were left penniless, though with a name and
conscience of which they had no reason to be ashamed.
During the next few years they moved about considerably,
along the borderline separating New Hampshire and Ver-
mont. Among the towns where they resided in these un-
settled years were Royalton, Randolph, Sharon, Tunbridge
(their former home), Lebanon, and Norwich. Continuous
industry and economical living would have measurably
brought back their former prosperity, but sickness in their
growing family proved too heavy a drain on their meagre
resources. Failure of crops for three successive years in
the neighborhood of Norwich, their last home in New Eng-
land, drove them ultimately from that place to western New
York State, which, as we have seen, was then a pioneer dis-
trict. They first settled at Palmyra, Wayne (then Ontario)
county, where, with characteristic hope and industry, the
father assisted by his sons began the arduous task of clear-
ing more than a hundred acres of land. This farm they had
purchased and were paying for in installments, but in con-
sequence of their inability to make the final payment, and
also because of a technical question concerning the title, they
lost everything, and were compelled to make a new home.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 13

Hence, after having lived at Palmyra for four years, the
family moved to Manchester, where, it seems, they were
prospered more than at any time since their misfortune at
Tunbridge. This removal occurred some time in the year
1819.

Such, in brief, is the history of Joseph Smith's ante-
cedents. But anti-"]\Iormon" writers have labored most as-
siduously to wrest from these simple facts a testimony of
low birth, ignorance, and indolence. The pious nature of
these deserving people has been stigmatized as religious ec-
centricity and credulity ; the frequent removals of the Smith
family from one place to another as vagabondage; their un-
fortunate reverses in a material way and their unpretentious
efforts to regain their prosperity as soul-bankruptcy and
mere shiftless incapacity. And one would be led to think
the whole race of Smiths and Macks for generations back
entirely destitute of a single virtue. Two things, however,
the reader must bear in mind as he peruses this gloomy cat-
alogue of short-comings : first, that it was compiled by
those who not only took no pains to hide their animus, but
openly avowed themselves enemies of the "Mormon" people
and their creed ; and, second, that it was conceived at a time
when these enemies felt it imperatively necessary, as an ef-
fective weapon against the Church, that the originators of
the new religion should have borne a bad name among their
neighbors. For confirmation of the first of these statements
we have only to look into any of the numerous and bulky
volumes by anti-"Mormons." It will then be perfectly clear
that these charges against the character of the Smith family
were conceived in bitterness and disappointed hate. And if
any proof of the other statement be asked for, it would be
necessary only to make a list of the points of evidence so-
berly put down in what purports to be authenticated and
unbiased histories of the Latter-day Saints by outsiders. In

14 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

nearly every instance the testimonies (usually sworn affida-
vits given with incredible willingness) against the character
of Joseph Smith and the members of the family are distor-
tions of otherwise innocent facts, the repetition of pure
hearsay, often by a great many removes, or the expressions
of persons enfeebled by age, struggling, at the pressing in-
vitation of the "careful and unbiased historian," to recall
some "facts" about their early connection with the Smiths,
which, if these people had really ever known would long
since have slipped away from their remembrance. In the last
case the flattering and conciliating manner of the "inquirer,"
but more especially his helpful leading questions, brings
back a ready memory that doles out with surprising volubil-
ity rose-colored stories about the Smiths, which are them-
selves the strongest evidence at once of the corrupted under-
standing of those who gave them out in the first instance and
of the total lack of conscience on the part of those who re-
peat them in works laying the least claim to being historical.
We have therefore been thus particular in reviewing the his-
tory of these two families partly because of these attempts to
cast odium upon honorable names, partly because we wish
to show what strange, yet simple and withal natural, means
the Lord employes to accomplish his purposes respecting
man. We -may see from this brief narrative of their check-
ered lives that God was using these circumstances for the
purpose of training the Smith family for the labor he was
about to require of them^ and also of bringing them near
the scene of the younger Joseph's future activity.

Early Years of the Prophet Joseph.

It is not however with the Smith family, as such, that we
are primarily concerned, but rather with one of its members.
Joseph Smith, Jr., the fourth child, was at this time (1820)
only a little more than fourteen years of age. He had been

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 15

born on the 23d of December, 1805, while the family was
living at Sharon, Windsor county, Vermont. Concerning his
life before this fourteenth year but little is known. It is re-
lated that when about seven years old he was afflicted with
a fever sore on his leg, which nearly caused him to lose that
member, but through an operation, in which however it was
necessary to remove several pieces of bone, the leg was for-
tunately saved. He worked like the other boys of the family
in assisting the father to make a home at Palmyra and at
Manchester; so that he had been inured to daily toil from
the beginning, and early made to know the significance of
hardship and privation. During the winter months he at-
tended the village school, where "he learned to read, write,
and do simple sums in arithmetic. Of the other branches
taught even then at the best country schools it was not his
privilege to learn at the time. At home he was taught by
precept and example the value of faith in God and devotion
to duty in his dealings Vv'ith his fellow men. The early age
of fourteen brought Joseph a studious habit and thought-
fulness beyond his years ; and in consequence he was highly
respected among the neighbors.

The Smith family, being, as we have shown, of a re-
ligious turn of mind, naturally took a deep interest in the
revival which occurred in the vicinity of Manchester and
which we have already described. Four members, includ-
ing the mother, joined the Presbyterian faith. Joseph, like
the rest of the family, was profoundly affected by the excite-
ment over religion, but, unlike them, was in doubt as to
which of the churches was the true one. At first he was
somewhat partial to the Methodists. Young as he was, he
saw clearly that not all the sects, separately or collectively,
could be the true Church of Christ, though he does not ap-
pear to have had any doubts that some one of them possessed
the truth. He pondered over the question without apparently

o

16 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

being able to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion, till an
event occurred which dispelled forever all shadow of
doubt from his mind and planted there instead a firm knowl-
edge respecting God and the Church of Christ.

A Glorious Revelation of God.

During his severest moments of uncertainty, Joseph had
frequent recourse to the Scriptures, hoping to find therein
something that would set his mind at rest concerning this
perplexing subject of religion. And he was not to be dis-
appointed. For one day while reading in the Epistle of
James he came upon the words : "If any of you lack wis-
dom, let him ask of God, that giveth liberally to all men
and unbraideth not, and it shall be given him." These words
burned themselves into his soul. It was like a sudden fllash
from heaven in the midst of impenetrable darkness. He had
been wandering in the blackness of night, but now he was
able to pick out his way with ease. It was a supreme crisis
in the boy's life, a parting of the ways. He was startled
by the fitness of the words to his case. It was as if the an-
cient Apostle had written them with Joseph expressly in
mind. He lacked wisdom; for which of all the conflicting
churches to join he did not know. But here was the finger
of God pointing the way to truth ; here was a pledge from
the Almighty that he would obtain wisdom merely for the
asking. Doubtless he hesitated. Who, indeed, would not
have done so? Had not these disputes over religion been
going on for hundreds of years, and had not these very
words, too, been read time and again by countless millions
whose doubts respecting the truth of the sects had been as
great as his own ? And yet, it seemed, no one, not even the
preachers, had tested the divine promise in this passage. Or
had they read them without believing? At all events, he did
not disbelieve ; he had no questionings in his soul respecting

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 17

the amount of dependence to be placed upon the word of
God. And here, we may add parenthetically, is the most
positive evidence of the purity and faith-producing character
of his home atmosphere. The more he thought upon the
passage and on his own condition of spiritual uncertainty,
the more he was impressed that he ought to seek the Lord
in prayer.

Accordingly, one bright morning in the spring of 1820,
he retired to a grove near his father's house. Upon reach-
ing a secluded spot, he looked around him to make sure
that he was alone. No doubt he felt deeply the awfulness
of the situation. The deep-breathing stillness of the woods
and the loneliness only added to the solemnity of the hour.
Silently, with bared head, the boy knelt upon the ground and
began to pray aloud. Suddenly, he was seized by an unseen
power which entirely overcame him — not an imaginary in-
fluence, but an actual being from the invisible world of evil.
Thick darkness enveloped him. His tongue was bound so
that he could not utter a word. In an agony of helpless ter-
ror he cried in his soul for God to free him from the grasp
of this frightful power. At the moment of his greatest
despair he beheld above him, through the darkness, a pillar
of light, which increased as it approached till the place was
brilliantly illuminated, and the tops of the trees looked as if
they would be consumed. The next instant, the enemy of
his soul departed. "When the light rested upon me," he
says, "I saw two personages, whose brightness defy all de-
scription, standing above me in the air. One of them spake
unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the oth-
er: 'This is ]\'Iy Beloved Son, hear Him.' "

Joseph's object in going to the grove to pray was that he

might inquire of the Lord concerning the right church. As

soon, therefore, as he had regained self-possession enough to

speak, he asked these holy Personages the momentous ques-
2

18 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

tion. The answer was: "You must join none of them!
They are all wrong. Their creeds are an abomination in my
sight. The professors thereof are all corrupt. They draw
near me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
They teach for doctrine the commandments of men. Hav-
ing a form of godliness, they deny the power thereof."
Again he was forbidden to connect himself with any of
them. "Many other things" w^ere said to him at this time,
but we are not informed, neither here nor elsewhere, as to
what they were. Doubtless, he was told that in due ti]ne,
the true Church should be established on the earth and that
if faithful he should be instrumental in accomplishing the
restoration.

Such are all the details concerning, what will some day
be generally regarded as the most important event in the
history of the world, excepting only the revelation of God-
hood in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is pre-
eminently the event since the opening of the great dispen-
sation in the meridian of time. And like the c;^niing of our
Savior to live in the flesh — a circumstance so humble and
obscure as not to attract the notice of the great — this sub-
lime vision of modern days will acquire significance with the
silent lapse of time; while the petty incidents of the world's
life, such as the overthrow of a tyrant king, the founding of
a nation, or the discovery of an important principle, which
have been magnified beyond their legitimate proportions,
will imperceptibly but none the less surely drop to their
proper level, leaving this magnificent revelation ascending
above these merely local events resplendent with an ever in-
creasing halo of glory.

After the Vision.

Naturally enough, Joseph felt as if he ought to communi-
cate these facts to others that they too might rejoice; for it

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. H>

did not occur to his unsophisticated mind that any religious
person would question his experience, much less deny the
need for such a revelation, and least of all that any ill-will
should be borne him for what he had seen. His own family
were the first to whom he related the vision. With them, of
course, he found belief and sympathy. Afterwards, when an
opportunity presented itself, he told the circumstance to a
Methodist minister, who in all probability had manifested an
interest in the conversion of the boy, and from whom no
doubt he confidently expected belief and good will. But the
pious man treated his communication "not only lightly, but
with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there
were no such things as visions or revelations in these days;
that all such things had ceased with the Apostles, and that
there never would be any more of them." To others also he
must have related the vision; for he says, "I found my tell-
ing the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against
me among professors of religion, and was the cause of great
persecution, which continued to increase."

This Methodist minister's attitude towards him was the
attitude of people generally in his neighborhood. He very
likely had imagined that he would be doing an inestimable
service to his fellow men by telling them how his own doubts
had been resolved as an example of how they might resolve
theirs. But his neighbors did not look at the matter in the
same light. Only his family believed him. Everyone else
reviled and persecuted. What this persecution consisted of
he does not inform us; doubtless it was jeering and vilifica-
tion, the social and religious ostracism of himself and his
father's family. The preachers, who had so recently been
at cross purposes with one another over their individual
share of the converts, now so far forgot their bickerings as
to unite in holding up to public ridicule a boy scarcely fif-

20 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

teen years of age whose circumstances in life were such as to
make him of no consequence in the world.

"It caused me serious reflection then," says the Prophet
in speaking of this time, "and often has since, how very
strange it was that an obscure boy, o^a little over fourteen
years of age, and on"e, too, who was doomed to the necessity
of obtaining a scanty maintenance by his daily labor, should
be thought a character of sufficient importance to attract the
attention of the great ones of the most popular sects of the
day, and in a manner to create in them a spirit of the most
bitter persecution and reviling. But strange or not, so it
was, and it was often the cause of great sorrow to myself.
However, it was nevertheless a fact that I had beheld a
vision. I have thought since, that I felt much like Paul,
when he i.ade his defense before King Agrippa, and related
the account of the vision he had when he saw a light, and
heard a voice ; but still there were few who believed him ;
some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad ; and he
was ridiculed and reviled. But all this did not destroy the
reality of his vision. He had seen a vision, he knew he had.
and all the persecution under heaven could not make it oth-
erwise ; and though they should persecute him unto death,
yet he knew, and would to his latest breath, that he had both
seen a light and heard a voice speaking unto him, and all
the world could not make him think and believe otherwise.
So it was with me. I had actually seen a light, and in the
midst of that light I saw two personages, and they did in
reality speak to me ; and though I was hated and persecuted
for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and
while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking
all manner of evil against me, falsely, for so saying, I was
led to say in my heart. Why persecute for telling the truth?
I have actually seen a vision, and who am I that I can with-
stand God, or why does the world think to make me deny

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 21

what I have actually seen ? For I had seen a vision ; I knew
it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it,
neither dared I ; at least I knew that by so doing I would
offend God, and come under his condemnation."

Significance of this Revelation.

This first vision of the Prophet's constitutes the groundwork
of the religious movement inaugurated by him. With it
"Mormonism" falls or stands, according as this vision is
false or true. If this be a figment of Joseph Smith's imag-
ination, then our religion is what its detractors have always
declared it to be — a soul-destroying imposture. But if, on
the other hand — though our opponents seem not to have
considered closely enough this other alternative — this rev-
elation is a reality, "Mormonism" alone among all the re-
ligious organizations of the world is the true Church of
Christ. It is a tremendous conclusion, but there is positive-
ly no other that can be drawn; there is no middle ground.
Here then is the main reason why "Mormonism" presents
to the world such an uncompromising front, why it cannot
affiliate with other sects and parties on common ground, and
why, in part, it is fought with such unmitigated bitterness.
But this vision, moreover, is luminous as are few external
facts in our annals. It lays bare a group of ideas the big-
ness of which cannot easily be overestimated, and opens a
prospect for others, larger still, which the human under-
standing struggles in vain to encompass. All the great fun-
damentals of our faith are here — those basic principles of
progressive religion for which "Mormonism" stands and
which distinguish it from every other religious creed. It is
not our purpose, however, to establish the grounds of belief
in this great revelation. That is not needed. The beautiful
and perfect superstructure subsequently reared, proves con-
clusively the substantial character of this, its foundation. It

23 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

is the intention, in this section, only to bring into relief some
of the important facts and principles disclosed by the first
vision.

One of the main results of this revelation was to set
Joseph's mind at rest concerning religion and to qualify him
for his mission of Restorer.

It is related that the young boy, upon recovering his
usual self-possession, left the grove and entered the house;
and as he was leaning against the mantlepiece, pale aiT,d ex-
hausted, his mother, noticing his condition, pressed him for
the cause of it. He replied that he was well enough, but
added shortly: "1 have learned for myself that Presbyter-
ianism is wrong." And indeed he had learned this, from the
greatest of all authorities. But he had learned also that all
the other churches and religious societies among men were
likewise wrong. "Their creeds" — such was the language
of the Holy Personage — "are an abomination in my sight."
Not, as some have thought, that the churches had in them
no truth, or that there were no devout people on the earth.
There was doubtless some truth in all the churches, and there
doubtless were in each of them thousands of sincere wor-
shipers. But their creeds, which they depended upon as a
means of cultivating faith, were encumbered with numerous
rites and ceremonies that found no sanction in the New
Testament, in the practices of apostolic days, or in any
revelation later than the time of the apostles ; and, what was
worse, all their sacraments were performed without divine
authority, those that were, as well as those that were not.
correct in form. Like the Jewish religion at the time of
Jesus, modern Christianity, though it was not devoid of
some of the forms of the primitive Church, was notwith-
standing almost powerless as a means of salvation. For
hundreds of years no man had been called of God, but each
of those who had officiated in a religious capacity had "taken

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 23

the honor unto himself." That was the situation as it must
have appeared to Joseph Smith after this revelation; and it
had the effect of settling his mind as to the important ques-
tion which he went out into the woods to ask.

Joseph had learned, too, a most valuable lesson — the
first lesson, in fact, of both theology and religion — which he
was to profit by greatly during the few troubled years that
were to remain to him in life, and which would be of ines-
timable value to the religious world generally had they been
disposed to avail themselves of it. In the long course of the
Christian Church, from the days of the apostles to the pres-
ent, quarrels and schisms over theological tenets had turned
men's minds from the practice of the virtues inculcated by
the original faith. Councils of the Church, the writings of
the fathers, the decrees of the popes, the discussions of uni-
versities, and even the inspired words of the New Testa-
ment had been vainly resorted to for light upon the sub-
jects of dispute. None, it seemed, had gone to the real
source of wisdom — new revelation from God. But Joseph
had learned how little dependence was to be placed in men.
And so in his simplicity he had appealed to the Lord.
Hereafter he would not hesitate where to go for guidance
when any question of vital importance was involved. No
marvel that, in later years when he had further tested the
divine promise in James, he could remark upon the readi-
ness of the Lord to instruct those who diligently sought him
in faith.

It m.ay be accounted by some a matter of small moment
that Joseph Smith should never have belonged to any of the
churches of men. But I do not regard it so. On the con-
trary, I have always deemed it profoundly significant that
this revelation came to him when he was on the point of con-
sidering which of them he ought to join. His parents, and
his antecedents for generations, though devout people, had

24 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

taken little stock in the creeds. They endeavored through-
out their lives to surround themselves and their children
with such influences as would make for their spiritual ad-
vancement. But they held aloof from the churches. Had
Joseph, or his ancestors generally, been strongly partisan in
a religious way — and the bias would no doubt have been
stronger and more narrowing in some sects than in others —
the young boy might have been less fit for his capacity as
Restorer. There would have been, no doubt, a sub-con-
scious set of influences at work the effect of which would be
to narrow his usefulness and benumb his religious sensibili-
ties. Doubtless he had his short-comings, but these would
not have been overcome or diminished by his early becoming
saturated with a false creedism. He was left, therefore, free
as possible, so far as hereditary and similar influences in
this direction were concerned, to accomplish the work to
which God had foreordained him. His mind was broader, his
heart larger, than cither would have been had his life and
that of his progenitors been circumscribed by the creeds of
men. Hence, I insist, there seems to have been a Providence
in Joseph's not having been a member of any of the sects
which he was subsequently to pronounce an abomination be-
fore the Lord.

But the Prophet of the Last and Greatest of Dispensa-
tions required a more direct and personal qualification than
merely to know that none of the churches on the earth was
true, or to be informed concerning the proper source of re-
ligious wisdom.

When, after the ascension of Jesus, it became necessary
to fill the vacancy in the quorum of the Twelve created by
the apostasy of Judas, it was imperative that a man be
chosen who could testify from personal knowledge of the
ministrations of [Messiah in the flesh and of his resurrection
from the dead. The Apostle Peter, in his address to those

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 25

who had been called together for the election of a new apos-
tle, declared that "of these man which have companied with
us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among
us beginning with John the Baptist, unto that same day he
was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness
with us of his resurrection." Subsequently, when another
apostle was to be chosen, and it happened that the person
on whom this great honor and responsibility were to rest
had not the benefit of a personal association with the Lord
in the flesh, a special revelation of the risen Jesus was
granted him. Now, why were only such men chosen for
the apostleship as knew positively and beyond a doubt that
Jesus had risen from the dead ? Obviously, because this was
the one thing always in question, among Jews and Gentiles
alike, whenever the Apostles taught the gospel. All else in
the new religion revolved around this point and derived its
meaning from it. If this could be proved, men would yield
their belief. And so God provided the world with men
who could testify from personal knowledge : "Him whom
ye delivered up to death, God hath raised from the dead;
whereof we are witnesses!"

And does any one suppose for a moment that this
Special Restorer of the gospel in our age would require a
less definite and positive qualification? He was to usher in
the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times in which, accord-
ing to the prophets, God "might gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on
earth." It was, mioreover, to be the Dispensation immedi-
ately preceding the Thousand Years of Peace and the Per-
sonal Reign of Christ on the earth. Then, too, he was to en-
counter wickedness in high places, unbelief in the Bible, in a
personal God, and in a future life, and the scoffs, jeers, and
opposition of his fellow men, to an extent that few special
witnesses have suffered whom God has sent to earth. Be-

26 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

sides, he was to come to an age the proud boast of which
was, that it had made greater progress in knowledge and
general civilization than the world had made in all previous
time ; and his contemporaries were to endeavor to overwhelm
him and his doctrines by this flood of learning and science.
No mere belief, therefore, however strong, in what had been ;
no mere conviction, however positive, of what ought to be,
could be a sufficient qualification for so gigantic and compre-
hensive a mission. Anything short of a revelation such as
Joseph actually received would have been totally inadequate
to sustain the weight of unbelief, ridicule, and opposition
which the world was to heap upon the head of this youth-
ful Seer. Had his attitude toward the religions of the
world been founded alone on a deduction of logic, never so
clarified, or upon the interpretation of a Scripture passage,
however certain and evident, the antagonism with which his
opinions were received by the whole world might well have
occasioned a pause in his career that he might question his
soul respecting the strength and correctness of his convic-
tions. He would then have been pardoned for stopping to
re-examine the grounds on which he had based his conclu-
sions. As it was, however, Joseph had no such questionings
— he had no need or room for any. He had no premises to
examine, for what he taught was not a conclusion obtained
by human reasoning. What he did, and all that he had to
do, was to state a fact — There is a personal God, for I have
seen and spoken with him ! If anything in human experi-
ence is certain, then this Revelation was to be depended
upon. In addition to this, the very heart of all the false-
sood and error that had grown up around theology and re-
ligion during the Dark Ages, concerned the personality of
God, the nature of the so-called "Trinity," and the necessity
for continued revelation in the Church of Christ — the iden-
tical points which the vision set forth with such singular

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 27

clearness. Joseph was to correct these wrong notions re-
specting- Deity. Is it strange, therefore, in view of all these
things, that the great modern Prophet, the Elias, should
ceive one of the most transcendently glorious and magnifi-
cent revelations ever vouchsafed to man — that God the Fa-
ther and his Son Jesus Christ should appear to him in vision
and speak to him face to face as a man talks with his friend ?
The effect of this manifestation on the young man's
mind was exactly what might naturally have been expected.
It made him bold and independent beyond the comprehen-
sion of his fellowmen — precisely the same effect of similar
revelations in the first century of the Christian era. The
apostles of Jesus, under the spell of their visions of the risen
Lord, went forth with a zeal, an energy, and a fearlessness
that appeared to their contemporaries the sheerest madness.
Threatenings, humiliations, fire, the sword, the dungeon,
and, indeed, all these combined, availed nothing with these
men, so deeply had the waters of their soul been agitated by
what they had seen and heard. When dragged before the
rulers of the Jews and threatened, on pain of severe punish-
ment by the law of the land, if they spoke henceforth to any
man in the sacred name of their Master, they answered :
"Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto
you more than unto God, judge ye; we ought to obey God
rather than man." And in the end of such a career, these
apostles, alm.ost to a man, sealed their testimony with their
blood. It was precisely so with this modern prophet. Every
fiber of his soul thrilled with certainty as to the revelation he
had received and his mission in the earth. And with a sub-
lime courage, such as the world rarely witnesses, he stood
alone thundering forth his message to mankind in the teeth
of their fiercest anger and violence. Nothing could deter
him from the accomplishment of his mighty task, neither
contumely, violence and imprisonment, nor the fear of

28 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

death ; and like his prototypes, the Baptist and the ancient
Apostles, he put the seal of martyrdom upon his testimony.

This bold and independent attitude on the part of Jo-
seph Smith has been mistaken by an unbelieving generation
for natural egotism. And it must be admitted that some
things in his general conduct appear to give color to such an
interpretation of his life. His spirited defiance of the whole
religious and learned world; his daring denunciations of
tenets become sacred by centuries of devotion and trust ; his
energetic measures towards the growth and protection of his
system of religion ; and probably most of all by his high
tones of disdain towards ministers who had nothing but the
learning of the schools to support their teachings, — all this
doubtless might be interpreted as overweaning arrogance. But
such was not the character of Joseph Smith. The world, after
all deductions are made on the score of natural self-reliance,
is woefully wrong in its conception of this man's character.
His enthusiasm was the enthusiasm of a soul on fire with
truth, not of ignorant excitability. His boldness and inde-
pendence were the boldness and independence of an overmas-
tering conviction of duty. The spectacle of a man wholly ab-
sorbed in his work is so rare as to excite the curiosity of the
vulgar and to invite their ridicule and enmity. Howard re-
lieving human woe in dingy prisons ; Galileo revealing new
truths concerning the stars; Columbus discovering another
world ; and, if we may say it without irreverence by the com-
parison, the Lord Jesus working out the earth's redemption
and man's, — these have brought on misunderstandings
enough to teach men a sad lesson. Joseph Smith was not a
fanatic, he was not an egotist ; he was only one of those few
— one in a generation — who come into the world bearing a
message of truth from heaven, and who cannot rest until
they have done their full duty, whatever treatment they may
receive. He had a Herculean task to perform, which was

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. ^9

to uproot an old faith consecrated by many hundred years
of devotion, and replace that by a new one ; and no timorous,
apologetic, pusillanimous conduct would have accomplished
the work which had been imposed upon him. Indeed, it
would have been just cause for astonishment had Joseph's
attitude toward the religious world been anything but bold,
energetic, aggressive. God Almighty had told him with his
own lips, as the boy stood in the divine presence, that none
of the creeds among men was recognized by Heaven, and
that he had been chosen to bring about a restoration of the
true faith ; and relying implicitly on the word of God to him,
he permitted nothing to turn him aside from the path of
his duty. What the world required was, not only an author-
itative announcement concerning their false creeds and the
true way, but that announcement in tones that would re-
verberate throughout the world. And they, obtained it in
the voice of the Modern Seer.

Such then, was the meaning which this great revelation
had for the Prophet. Its significance to the world, however,
was to be even greater.

Let it not be put down to narrowness and egotism in the
entire body of "Mormons" that they look upon this vision as
of so much importance as to concern the spiritual welfare of
the whole human family. Equally lowly and insignificant
events in the world's history have touched the interests of
the entire race of man. Who, for instance, living in the
days of Herod the Great, in Palestine, would have believed
that a child born of peasants in such an obscure village as
Bethlehem, and under such circumstances as surrounded the
birth of Christ, would say and do things that would color
and condition the stream of human thought, from his day
onward, and would contribute more than all other persons
whatsoever toward the elevation of mankind in what is per-
manently good and true. And yet this is exactly what has

30 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONlSM.

occurred. Surely, before such a solemn fact, silence, not
scorn, would be the better attitude on the part of those who
treat "Mormonism" with contempt. And so the Saints have
always contended that this first revelation to Joseph Smith,
is fraught with grave consequences to mankind, whether
they will or not. Nor could it be otherwise, and maintain its
distinctively divine character, any more than the message of
any of the other prophets could be, or even that of Jesus
himself. Such is the inevitable nature of truth — it will either
save or condemn those who hear it.

This vision was, in the first place, an authoritative an-
nouncement to all the world that the Church of Christ was
not to be found on the earth. Many independent and pro-
gressive men had already, it is true, arrived at this conclu-
sion through their own unaided reflections, and had with-
drawn from the churches either to make an honest eflFort to-
wards bringing about a return to primitive Christianity, or
to await in silence the restoration of the true church. Many
others had felt vaguely that everything was not as it should
be with their religion, but believed it better to be associated
with some one of the sects than to break away from them all.
But a great many, perhaps the majority of Christians, re-
posed as much confidence in their man-invented creeds as if
these had been fresh-written by the finger of God. Their
faith, however, was destined to receive a rude shock in the
first message of "Mormonism." "Your creeds are all wrong,"
declared this new faith, "and are an abomination in the sight
of the Lord. Your professors teach for doctrines the com-
mandments of men ; and have a form of godliness, but deny
the power thereof." There was no vagueness or ambiguity
here, no hesitancy in the tones with which it was delivered.
The young Prophet spoke as one having authority and not
as the uninspired. No wonder that since these strong words
were first uttered men have frequently turned with alarm

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONlSM.

31

to a re-examination, sometimes to a recasting, of their creeds.
Of the changes that occurred in reHgion, not
only in the form of the Church organization, but
also in some of the fundamental principles and ordin-
ances, it will be sufficient here only to mention some of the
more important of these. It is not urged that the apostasy
came about all at once, that men retired at night Christians
to find themselves next morning outside the pale of the
church; or even that it occurred in one generation. The
change happened gradually as day fades into night. Dur-
ing the first three centuries after Christ, the Church was
harassed and persecuted by Jew and Gentile, and thousands
were put to death. In their scattered and unsettled situation
it was impossible for the leaders to exercise personal super-
vision over the Saints. Hence, little errors crept in here and
there, which in time became a fixed part of religion. In
those perilous times the quorum of apostles was not perpe-
tuated; and when these died, there was no supreme earthly
head to teach the same inspired doctrine to all the separate
branches. And when revelation ceased, men soon began to
look for reasons why it was no longer necessary. These
different Christian societies left to themselves, dwindled
away from the truth, step by step, and in separate paths,
till, under the "bishops" of Rome, a great many of them were
brought to a reasonable harmony of doctrine, but not to the
original way. Then followed those days of peace, when the
Church suffered more alterations from its contact with Pa-
ganism than it had through the period of its gloomiest per-
secution. The Empire became "Christian," the Church be-
came popular ; the divine precepts of Jesus were "received"
by heathen minds where they were gradually remoulded into
a form which its divine Founder would have been unable to
recognize ; concessions were made to the unbelievers in or-
der to bring them into the fold; doctrines were changed;

32 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONlSM.

worship was made more gorgeous to correspond with what
the new converts had been accustomed to; the absurd and
unscriptural doctrine of trans-substantiation and the eleva-
tion of the host was introduced; immersion became sprink-
hng; the baptism of adults was succeeded by the baptism
of infants ; the simple and lucid idea of the Godhead became
a hopeless muddle in minds that had been used to the soph-
ism of the Neo-Platonic philosophy ; bishops lost the stand-
ard of judging truth; and the whole procession of pompous
and glittering error marched down the centuries, accumu-
lating in kind as it went, until almost every remnant of
Christian truth was overwhelmed in the darkness of the
Middle Ages.

All this the Protestants will admit and the Catholics
cannot deny. And yet Protestants and Catholics alike con-
tinue to adhere to their peculiar forms of religion; the lat-
ter because they cannot see that their dark history denies
them the honor of being the depository of God's truth, the
former because they imagine that the Reformation correct-
ed these abuses and restored the pure flame of the Primitive
Church. But a little reflection by the light of this latter-day
vision, will show how utterly untenable such a position is.
In view of the history of the "Christian Church," how could
the authority of the holy priesthood have been transmitted
through such unholy vessels as we know existed in the
medieval clergy? That, after all, is the vital question, not
the external changes, nor even the changes in principle, great
as these were, which have taken place in religion ; for these
are simply indications of a lack of divine authority. That
is the question, too, which "Mormonism" asks the religious
world. Everything else may be brushed aside, in this con-
troversy, as of comparative insignificance. In vain is it
that ministers in the churches of Christendom point to the
commission of Jesus to his Apostles. That was given alone

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 83

to them, the eleven as they sat with Him upon the Mount of
Olives. In vain, too, may Protestant clergymen invoke the
aid of tradition and say that they obtain their authority from
the Apostles through the Catholic Church. The Roman
hierarchy cut them off as apostates and delivered them over
to the buffetings of Satan, and hence whatever divine calling
they formerly held was revoked by their act of severing
themselves from the see of Rome. But in vain likewise may
the Catholics themselves point to their long line of succession
from St. Peter to Pious the Tenth, For even if it were
certain that the chief of the Apostles held the Roman bishop-
ric, and if, moreover, there were no fatal gaps in this long
succession, it is impossible that the Priesthood of the Son of
God should have flowed down to us through such a corrupt
channel as extended from the days of the Apostles to our
own. And since both Catholics and Protestants scorn, not
only the fact of new revelation, but also the need for any, it
is perfectly clear that they are altogether without divine au-
thority. It is doubtless true that the Protestant "Reforma-
tion" and what is termed the Catholic "Counter-Reforma-
tion" looped off a good many excrescences, modified a few
ceremonies, and purified morals in the church. But this did
not, and could not, restore the priesthood. That could be
done only by a reopening of the heavens and a bestowal of it
upon men by those who unquestionably held it anciently.
Such, pressed to its last analysis, is the meaning of the apos-
tasy— the great significance also, to the world, of this first
revelation to the modern Prophet.

In the next place, this vision was a corrective of many
false notions that had grown up between this and the apos-
tolic age respecting the personality of God and the nature of
the Godhead. Jesus taught that "to know" the Father and
the Son is "life eternal." But in no respect has modern

3

34 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

.Christianity departed farther from the truth than in this
particular. The Christian Ciod of today no more resembles
the God of tlic Bible than the incoherent utterances of the
idiot are like the profound and subtle reasonings of the phil-
osopher. Instead of the vague and formless deity that apos-
tate Christianity has conjured up out of the depths of pagan
philosophy and mysticism, we have in this revelation a clear
and distinct personality, not only of the Son, but also of the
Father. This is why the angel of John's Revelation, who in
the last days was to deliver his message to "every nation,
and kindred, and tongue, and people," cried with a loud
voice : "Worship him that made the heavens and the earth,
the sea and the fountains of water;" and it was the task of
this first vision to veer the ideas of mankind round to the
true God from the "incorporeal," "bodiless and passionless"
being of the modern world. With respect to the unity of the
Godhead there is a similar divergence from the Scriptural
doctrine. The almost universal opinion of Christians today
is, that there are three Gods mysteriously fused into one per-
sonality; in other words, that there are three Gods m one.
"There is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and
another of the Holy Ghost," is the contradictory statement
of the Athanasian creed, which is considered orthodox by
most Christians ; "and yet there are not three eternals, but
one eternal."

But this vision of the modern Prophet reveals clearly
the mystifying effects and the absurdity of such a conception,
if it can really be called by so definite a term, and brings out
the Scriptural doctrine in a way that cannot be mistaken. In
the first place, God wears the same form that man does.
That is to say. He is in bodily form, has a body of flesh and
bones like man's, with this essential difference, however, that
God is perfect and glorified and immortal. And this applies
to both the Father and the Son. In the next place, these

ONE itUXDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

u

two Personages are as separate and distinct as any two hu-
man individuals are. Two heavenly Beings appeared to Jo-
seph, and one, pointing to the other, said, "This is My Be-
loved Son." There is no vagueness here, no mystic and un-
intelligible union ; there can be no occasion for refined quib-
bling over this revelation. l\Ien might dispute con-
cerning the apparently plain declarations of the Scriptures,
but here was no possibility for misconception or difference of
opinion. Here was a fact as well as an expression.

Indeed, in this first vision of the Prophet's there is es-
sentially a reinforcement of the great fundamentals of the
Christian faith. ''^lormonism," in this revelation, came for-
ward as a reaffirmation of Bible doctrine. It declared sub-
stantially to the world ; "You have departed from the truth,
and made the word of God of none effect by your traditions.
You have not believed the Scriptures, else you would long
ago have settled your differences. You have not believed in
the efficacy of prayer. You have spurned the only source of
wisdom, and gone after the opinions of men, which have led
you woefully astray. But the Bible is true ; there is efficacy
in prayer. Moreover, you have denied the need of revela-
tions, visions, miracles, when you had no authority in the
word of God for doing so. These things are as necessary
now as they ever were at any time in the history of the
world." Such, in brief, is the message of "Mormonism" to
the world in this revelation.

It is not contended that these points which we have
enumerated were new to the world. On the contrary, it is
admitted that they are taught in the Bible. But the value of
the vision is not lessened to this generation on that account ;
it is still a revelation in the full sense of the term. For in
every one of these particulars the Christian world had left
the way of truth, and it was in essentially the same condition,
so far as these doctrines were concerned, as it would have

36 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

been if these important truths had not been set forth in the
Scriptures. A profound quiet had settled down upon the
soul of man, which exercised a deadening influence over him
religiously. He looked but saw not; he had ears but heard
not; he had a heart, but was totally unable to comprehend.
What was needed, therefore, was a voice to break the still-
ness, a bold statement of these facts in tones that no one
could misunderstand. And this was a part of the mission of
the Prophet Joseph, which he acomplished with singular
fidelity and power.

In view of all these things we can better comprehend the
fact that the Father and the Son visited the earth on this
occasion. Such a thing, so far at least as we have any infor-
mation, had never occurred before in the history of man,
though we read of instances where each appeared separately.
This vision was to notify the world of certain important
facts, concerning the creeds of men, the true nature of God,
the opening of the new Era, in preparation for the second
coming of Christ. In a word, the Dispensation of the Ful-
ness of Times was ushered in by this revelation. This is
why the Father and the Son appeared, and why, too, the
Prince of the air sought so desperately the destruction of the
instrument of this great restoration on the very threshold
of this mighty epoch.

CHAPTER 11.

THE OTHER SHEEP.

From the spring- of 1820 to the autumn of 1823 — a period
of nearly three years and a half — Joseph received no further
communication from heaven.

An Interval of Three Years.

During- this time, he tells us, he "frequently fell into manv
foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth and the
foibles of human nature." We need not be at all surprised
at this. He was persecuted by those who, according to the
principles they affected so devoutly to believe, should have
endeavored, in a teachable spirit, to convince him that he was
wrong in crediting his vision; or, failing in this, ought at
least to have followed Gamaliel's advice, given under cir-
cumstances not dissimilar: "If this work is of men, it will
come to naught, but if it be of God, we cannot overthrow
it, lest haply we be found even to fight against God." But
they chose to use a less tolerant method. His company was
shunned by those whom he would otherwise have associated
with, and he was, therefore, driven into the society of a
less desirable class, and exposed to temptation. Being of a
jovial disposition, moreover, he did not always resist the evil
into which he was thrown.

It is not to be inferred from this, however, that he was
guilty of any grave sin, such as those have tried to make out
who take advantage of his candid avowals concerning his

38 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM,

earlier life. His errors consisted only of the usual follies of
young- persons of his condition of life — levity and trifling
conversation. "It cannot be shown," he says, in answer to
those who afterwards made the most of the words quoted
above, "that I have been guilty of wronging or injuring any
man or society of men." Nevertheless, such was the sen-
sitiveness of his nature, and so deeply had his feelings been
touched by the vision, that his conscience pricked him keen-
ly for any misstep he might have taken, however slight. It
might seem a small matter for others to sow the seeds of
youthful folly — such must have been his reflections during
this period — but he had in open vision been called in a sin-
gular manner to the greatest of all human labor. It would
not do, therefore, for him to pattern after his associates; he
must order his life in harmony with his own higher con-
science and the divine calling which had been imposed upon
him.

It argues a frank and open soul in the Prophet Joseph,
and evidences his sacred appointment, that, in subsequent
years when he had gathered about him many thousand
people who looked to him for spiritual guidance, he published
an account of these early weaknesses ; for in doing so he ex-
posed himself to the evil-minded and the skeptical. Had he
been a false prophet, he would ever have been on the alert
to disarm suspicion by enshrouding his past in a mysterious
and holy atmosphere, after the manner of religious impost-
ors. But a candid, honest avowal of his imperfections con-
formed better with his claim of Prophet. He was content to
let the works that he did, testify of his divine calling. And
the Saints, knowing his candor even when his reputation
suffered thereby, felt that they could trust him implicitly in
all things.

During these years he was always employed, either on
his father's farm or on the farms of hjs neighbors, A"lQng

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 39

those for whom he worked at this time was a man by the
name of Joseph Knight, who afterwards testified that the
young man always did his work intelHgently and faithfully.
A Mr. Reid, too, a man who never joined the Church, but
who, on at least two occasions later than this, defended the
Prophet in the courts of law, before which Joseph had been
unjustly dragged by his enemies, made a statement concern-
ing the character of Joseph during this period of his life.
He declares that, during the two years Joseph lived in the
neighborhood of Colesville, he was known as a young man
of "irreproachable character, intelligence, and good morals,
possessing a mind susceptible of the highest attainments."
Meantime, the Prophet steadfastly maintained wherever he
went that he had received a heavenly manifestation; and in
consequence continued to suffer a great deal of opposition,
chiefly from the professedly religious.
Moroni's Message.

It was now the twenty-first of September, 1823. Night had
settled down on the little town of Manchester, and the Smith
family, including the boy Joseph, had retired to rest.

But the young man's spirit was troubled. He thought
upon the vision of three and a half years ago, and upon the
long silence that had intervened between that glorious reve-
lation and the present. Why had not the Lord spoken to
him during all this time ? Had there not been in that vision
a promise of future direction ? Doubtless it was on account
of his sins that this prom.ise had not been fulfilled. He had
not unlikely, he thought, exhibited a mind too light and
careless to be the instrument of the great Restoration. God,
it might be, accounted him too weak and unworthy to con-
tinue the work so miraculously begun. But could he not be
forgiven? Surely, his sins had not been so grievous as to-
tally to unfit him for his promised labor. Touched to the
quick by a consciousness of his imperfections, he deeply re^

40 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

gretted that he had ever given way to temptation. His soul
yearned to know his status with heaven. He determined
therefore to pray, and his faith was strong that God would
deign an answer.

Suddenly, as he prayed, his room grew light until it
was like noonday for brightness. A heavenly person, beau-
tiful beyond description, appeared at his bedside, standing
in the air and encircled by the most brilliant light. He had
on a loose-flowing robe of the most exquisite whiteness — a
whiteness above anything earthly ; and he apparenly wore no
other clothing, for the robe was open at the bosom. The
hands and wrists were bare, as also were the feet and ankles
and head. His countenance shone with ineffable light and
beauty.

At first Joseph was afraid, but the benign countenance
and the gentle voice of the angel, as he pronounced the
young man's name, dispelled all fear. The holy personage
announced himself to be Moroni, an angel sent from the
presence of God. The Lord had a work for Joseph to do, in
consequence of which his name should be had among all na-
tions for good and evil. This work concerned a book of
golden plates which lay buried in a hill near Manchester and
which gave an account of the origin and history of the an-
cient inhabitants of this continent, the ancestors of the
American Indians. In addition, the record contained the
fulness of the gospel as it was given these people by the
Savior in person. With the book lay hidden urim and
thummim, or interpreters, instruments which the Lord had
preserved for the purpose of translating the record. The
time had not yet come for Joseph to receive the plates; he
would have to wait a little while till the Lord saw fit to in-
trust him with them ; and even when they were given into
his hands, he would be prohibited from showing them to
any one, except as God might direct.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 41

Then Moroni quoted some of the ancient prophecies.
He repeated the third and fourth chapters of Malachi, in
which the ancient prophet foretells Christ's second coming,
preceded, as was the first, by a special messenger, and the
great and terrible day of burning that shall come upon the
ungodly. He quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, which
speaks of the gathering in the last days, with the comment,
that these predictions were about to be fulfilled. He ex-
plained that the Prophet spoken of in the twenty-second and
twenty-third verses of the third chapter of The Acts is Jesus
Christ, but that the time had not yet come when "every soul
which will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed." Then
he commented upon the second chapter of Joel from the
twenty-eighth to the last verse. Not all the prophecy was
fulfilled at the time of Apostle Peter's discourse on the day
of Pentecost, but all should soon be fulfilled. He repeated
other passages of Scripture and made comments thereon.
How the face of the young listener must have glowed and
his heart thrilled with holy joy or terror as he listened al-
ternately to the gentle music of the voice that uttered bles-
sings on those who would tread the ways of peace, and to
the thundering accents that predicted wrath and destruction
on the heads of the disobedient.

The voice of the angel ceased; the room became dark
and quiet as before ; the heavenly Messenger had gone ; and
the youthful Joseph was alone marveling at the strangeness
of what he had seen and heard. All of a sudden, Moroni
reappeared, surrounded as before with brilliant light, repeat-
ed without the slightest variation, the message he had only
a moment ago finished, and added that great judgments
should come upon the ungodly soon — pestilence, disease,
earthquakes, death by famine, the waves, and the sword.
Again he ascended in a conduit of light, which had gath-
ered in an instant about his person ; and again Joseph was

42 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

alone in the dark utterly overwhelmed with astonishment.
Once more the heavenly Messenger was at his bedside ; once
more he repeated the message that he had already twice de-
livered, and this time also without variation of a word. He
added a caution and warning to Joseph that, in consequence
of the lowly circumstances of his father's family and the
•great worth of the plates, Satan would tempt him to use
them for material gain. But they were sacred and were not
to be used except for a sacred purpose. If, therefore, Joseph
should entertain any worldly intentions concerning them,
they should not be intrusted to his care ; but if, on the con-
trary, he would determine in his own mind to use them only
as God might direct, no power should be permitted to inter-
fere with the work of translation. With this third visit the
vision closed, and Joseph's room was flooded by the early
dawn.

Joseph Visits CimioraJi.

At the usual hour Joseph rose and went into the field to reap
with his father and his brother, Alvin. But his thoughts
Tvere elsewhere than on his work. He was extremely pale,
and utterly exhausted from the past night's extraordinary
scenes. His father, noticing his condition and thinking it
due to a sudden attack of illness, told him to return to the
house. He started on his way, but in attempting to climb
over the fence bounding the field, his strength deserted him,
and he fell to the ground unconscious. On coming to him-
self, he heard his name gently pronounced, and looking up
beheld the heavenly Messenger of the previous night stand-
ing above him in the air, surrounded as before with brilliant
light. Then, for the fourth time, Moroni delivered his mes-
sage, all he had spoken three times the night before, ending
with a command for Joseph to return to his father in the
field and tell him all that had occurred, and afterwards to

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 43

repair to the hill for the purpose of viewing the sacred treas-
ure. The Prophet went back as directed, and rehearsed
these four visions to his father, who listened to the mar-
velous story, and then bade him do exactly as the angel had
instructed him.

About four miles south of Manchester, where Joseph
lived, midway between this town and Palmyra, on the road
to Canadaigua, stands a hill which the stranger would easily
and naturally observe among the hills in the neighborhood
because of its size and form. It is not large, speaking of
hills in general, but is much larger than any surrounding it.
Rising abruptly from the level plain on the north, it gradu-
ally descends till its southern extremity is lost in small
ridges and ravines. At this time there was a heavy growth
of timber covering the hill, and this circumstance doubtless
furnished one reason for choosing it in ancient times as a
place of deposit for the sacred record. At present, however,
there are only a few trees scattered here and there on the
western slope, the eastern having for years been under culti-
vation. Anticipating our narrative somewhat, we may ob-
serve that the hill has borne various names. Among the
Jaredites — a numerous and powerful race that occupied
North America from the confusion of tongues at Babel till
about six hundred years before Christ — it bore the name
"Ramah." By the descendents of Lehi — a people who flour-
ished mainly in South America from the latter date till the
end of the fourth century, A. D. — it was called "Cumorah."
To those who live in its vicinity today it is known as "Mor-
mon Hill," from the circumstance of Joseph's finding the
plates of the Book of Mormon there. According to the an-
cient record so long buried in its bosom, this hill has wit-
nessed many a hard-fought and bloody battle, in whose gory
balance the fates of powerful nations have been suspended ;
and the war-like heroes of two expiring races have here

44 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

spent their last efforts in defense of their countries. Cu-
morah, therefore, is in reaUty one of the most interesting
and historic monuments to be found in the Americas.

After telling his father of the angel's visits and instruc-
tions, Joseph proceeded to visit this hill. On the way he was
strongly tempted of the devil as the angel had told him he
would be. Thoughts would come to his mind of the im-
mense commercial value of this golden treasure and how by
disposing of it he might raise his family from poverty into
a state of comparative wealth and influence. Then would
press upon him the words of the heavenly keeper: "This
record is holy and must be used only for holy purposes." In
this way did good and evil intentions struggle in his mind
for the mastery, till he reached the hill ; his joy at the pros-
pects of obtaining the treasured records would be inevitably
followed by thoughts of hardship and toil on the one hand
and of ease and plenty on the other. Nor must we be at all
surprised at this ; for Joseph was scarcely eighteen years of
age at the time, altogether without experience in these mat-
ters, and, besides, his family was even now in poor circum-
stances. The natural tendency of the human mind, there-
fore, working in harmony on this occasion with the powers
of darkness, would make of the great commercial value of
the plates — not only in the wealth of the metal itself, but also
in the record as a mere reHc of ancient American civilization
— an almost overwhelming temptation for a much stronger
man than Joseph Smith was then.

Upon reaching the hill he had no difficulty in recogniz-
ing the exact spot where the treasure lay buried, having seen
the hill and the sacred spot in vision on the preceding night
while the angel was speaking to him. Ascending the west-
ern side till he nearly reached the top, he observed the
rounded surface of a large stone the edges of which were
embedded in the earth. With the aid of a lever he removed

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 45

this stone, which he found to be the covering of a box. The
box had evidently been constructed by standing four flat
stones edgev^ise on the smooth surface of a fifth, and ce-
menting the joinings to prevent any moisture from reaching
the plates. No doubt the stone which formed the cover had
once been entirely hidden in the earth, but the elements had
by this time worn away the soil, so that the rounded top of it
might be easily seen. Within this receptacle, on two stones
lying crosswise of the bottom, lay the sacred treasure. At
this moment, it seems, the thought that was uppermost in
Joseph's mind was, that the plates, if he could procure them,
would bring him great material gains ; for, notwithstanding
he had been told by the messenger that the time for obtain-
ing them was not yet come, he reached forth his hands in
eagerness to grasp the inestimable treasure. "A shock was
produced upon his system, by an invisible power, which de-
prived him, in a measure, of his natural strength. He de-
sisted for an instant and then made another attempt, but was
more sensibly shocked than before." A third trial was
equally ineffectual, and he exclaimed —

"Why cannot I obtain this book ?"

"Because," said a voice close to him, which he recogr
nized as Moroni's, "because you have not kept the com-
mandments of the Lord."

The heavenly keeper of tlie record then explained how
utterly impossible it would be for Joseph to obtain the plates
except only by a strict adherence to the commandments of
God respecting them. Joseph prayed in his inmost soul for
the Lord to overlook his weakness and to give him strength,
whereupon he was filled with the Holy Spirit. "The heav-
ens were opened to him and the glory of the Lord shone
round about and rested upon him." "Look !" said the angel ;
and he beheld the prince of darkness, surrounded by his evil
train, writhing in the torments of Hell. "All this is shown,"

46

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONlSM.

explained Moroni, "the good and the evil, the holy and the
impure, the glory of God and the power of darkness, that
you may know hereafter the two powers and never be influ-
enced and overcome by the wicked one." The angel on this
occasion repeated that wonderful prediction the fulfillment
of which has been so literal : "Your name shall be known
among the nations, for the work which the Lord will per-
form by your hands shall cause the righteous to rejoice and
the wicked to rage ; with one it shall be had in honor, and the
other in reproach ; yet with these it shall be a terror because
of the great and marvelous work which shall follow the com-
ing forth of this fulness of the gospel." Joseph was informed
that he must visit the hill annually on the twenty-second of
September, at which time he might view the plates and re-
ceive instructions from the Lord.

This circumstance of Joseph's visit to the hill is one of
the most luminous recorded in the history of the great latter-
day work, of the way in which God deals with the children
of men. In the light reflected by these details, we can under-
stand why it is that Joseph Smith was reared under condi-
tions of toil and privation, why he was chosen at such an
early age, and, most of all, why he was required to wait be-
fore he was permitted to take the plates of the Book of Mor-
mon. Had he been brought up under circumstances of lux-
ury and ease, he would doubtless have been less pliable in the
Lord's hands, as indeed he might have been had he been
much older when his education under the direction of the an-
gel commenced. And we may feel sure that God was sub-
jecting the young man to a course of training that was calcu-
lated to fit him for the important duties of his calling. He
was becoming familiar with temptation by the very side of
the angel, and his character was daily receiving divine
strength, so that when the time arrived for him to assume
the responsibility of taking charge of the plates, he would

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONlSM. 4t

no longer entertain any worldly thoughts concerning them.
Surely, no education of mortal man was more effective than
this for its purpose.

Another Interval. ^—

There is not much recorded of Joseph's life between the year
1823 and the year 1827 when the plates were delivered to
him. The circumstances of his father's family made it neces-
sary for him to labor with his hands for their maintenance
and his The marvelous revelations which he had received,
and the promises concerning his future, did not puff up his
mind, making him feel that he was above the rest of the fam-
ily or above doing manual labor. These superior blessings
only made him the more humble and willing to do his share
of the work. At this time his services were needed the more,
for in November, 1824, his eldest brother, Alvin, died. Con-
cerning Alvin, it may be remarked here that he believed
firmly in the divine calling of Joseph and, according to his
mother's account, was more anxious concerning the forth-
coming Record than any other member of the family, except
of course the Prophet. He was a young man of singular
goodness of disposition, we are told, and when he died there
was general sorrow in the neighborhood.

In October, 1825, Joseph hired with a Mr. Josiah Stoal,
who lived in an adjacent county but who was just then con-
siderably affected over some old Spanish silver mines in Har-
mony, Pennsylvania, which were being reworked. So he
took all his hired help, including Joseph, to Harmony and in-
stituted a fruitless search for silver in that part of the State.
At the end of about a month devoted to this chasing of a
phantom, Joseph induced the old gentleman to give up the
task and engage in more profitable labor. This connection
with Mr, Stoal has given rise to the common story of his hav-
ing been a "money-digger," and his enemies and the enemies

48 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

of the Church he estabhshcd have endeavored to throw into
this term all the reproach of a really bad epithet, as if his
having been employed in such labor would be inconsistent
with his claims of prophet.

During his stay at Harmony, Joseph boarded with a Mr.
Isaac Hale. It was at this time and under these conditions
that he met, and formed an attachment for, Mr. Hale's
daughter Emma, who reciprocated his affections. Since
Joseph, wherever he went, communicated the facts concern-
ing his visions, it was not at all surprising that when, about
two years after this, these two young people desired Mr,
Hale's consent to their marriage, the good man objected
very decidedly to having his daughter marry a visionary man
like the Prophet. However, in January, 1827, the couple
were united in marriage in New York State. Out of this has
arisen the silly story that Joseph abducted his wife. She was
at this time in her twenty-third year, and hence of sufficient
age to act for herself.

According to the angel's instructions the Prophet visited
the hill Cumorah on September 22d of each year, viewed on
each occasion the sacred treasure, and each time met his
heavenly teacher, who instructed him in the ways of the
Lord. His mother Lucy has recorded the eagerness with
which the whole family, especially Joseph, looked forward
to the time when the plates should be taken from their long
resting-place and given into the hands of the young man ;
for many a time, of an evening after the day's work, Joseph
during these years, held the other members of the family
spellbound by his narration of the wonderful manifestations
of God's goodness to him, of the angelic ministrations, and
of the ancient inhabitants of America. With what tremu-
lous anxiety must Joseph have anticipated this event. And
yet with its coming there would pass upon him a tremendous
responsibility. For fourteen centuries had Cumorah pre-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 4^

served within her bosom the sacred treasure hidden from the
gaze of men. Now it was to be given to him. . He was at
this time in his twenty-second year — a very young man to re-
ceive such a charge. Nevertheless, the passing of these four
long years of eager waiting had furnished him the necessary
training ; he was now perfectly free from all further tempta-
tions of the devil so far as the money-value of the plates was
concerned. His mind, and the minds of the rest of the fam-
ily likewise, had become so accustomed to thinking about the
ancient treasure that there was now no danger of his enter-
taining any other than the proper intentions respecting it.
Should thoughts concerning the Record now be suddenly
dropped from his mind, there would succeed a terrible empti-
ness in his life. A few days before his regular visit to the
hill, he was informed that the time had come for the delivery
of the plates to him.

Joseph Obtains the Plates.

It was a little past midnight of September 21st, 1827, ac-
cording to Lucy Smith's narrative, that Joseph came into the
room where his mother was still sitting up alone, and asked
her if she had a chest. Instantly discerning his purpose, she
told him that she had not, but requested him to have one
made immediately for which she would pay, though she had
no money in the house at the time. Joseph then went out,
and was shortly afterwards followed by his wife Emma in
hood and riding habit. In this dark hour of the night did
these two proceed, quietly and alone, to the ancient treasure-
house, Joseph, no doubt, going to the place of deposit by
himself. Once more he lifted the cover of the stone box, and
with trembling eagerness, hallowed now by four years of in-
struction from the lips of a holy angel, took the plates from
their long resting-place. As he did so, the heavenly messen-
ger repeated his warning that wicked men would do all in

50 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

their power to take them away from him. "Now you have
the record in your own hands," he said, "and you are but a
man ; therefore you must ever be on your guard, lest wicked
men, assisted by the power of darkness, overcome you; for
they will lay every plan that they can devise to deprive you
of it ; and if you do not take heed continually, they will suc-
ceed. While it was under my care, no man had power to
take it ; but now I give it unto you. Beware, therefore, and
you shall have power to retain it until it is^ranslated."

CHAPTER III.

WHISPERING FROM THE GROUND.

Difhctilties in Preserving the Plates.

Joseph had not been in possession of the plates very long be-
fore he understood why Moroni had been so positive and ex-
plicit in his instructions concerning the care of them. Every
strate^em that curiosity and cunning, inspired by the adver-
sary, could invent, was resorted to in order to get them from
him. Hence he was often put to his wit's ends to preserve
them. Upon receiving them from the angel in the early
morning of the twenty-second, when he and Emma went to
the hill, he secreted them temporarily in the woods. Later
he returned for them ; and while carrying them home under
his cloak, he was assaulted three times by unknown men ; but
being large and active, he successfully parried the blows of
his assailants and reached the house in safety with his
precious burden, though he was utterly exhausted by the
task of carrying such a weight. Subsequently the house was
beset by mobs more than once. His enemies, incredulous
enough when it came to the question of Joseph's visions, and
deriding the power which, it was rumored, he possessed of
looking into the future, were nevertheless not ashamed to
employ the services of conjurors and diviners in order to as-
certain the place where the record was deposited. The plates
were usually kept in a chest made especially for them ; but
often they had to be taken out and hidden elsewhere. Once

52 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

they were put under the floor of an old work-shop not far
from the house; on another occasion they were secreted in
the hearth, some bricks having been removed for the purpose.
Moreover, slander, with her multitudinous tongues was now
busier than ever originating and spreading every absurd and
wicked tale that was in the least likely to befoul the names
of the Smith family, especially Joseph, or put them in a
ridiculous light before the public. Every circumstance in
their past lives was distorted and colored to suit the purpose
of the evil minded.

Constantly harassed thus by his enemies, Joseph was un-
able to obtain the necessary quiet and safety for translating
the record ; and having, in addition, to labor for his daily
maintenance, he could not find time and means to perform
his divine task. He thought, therefore, of moving from
Manchester. Harmony, his wife's former home, suggested
itself. Moreover, he had received an invitation from the
Hale family to stay with them. But his straightened circum-
stances presented an apparently insurmountable barrier. At
this juncture a respectable and well-to-do farmer — Martin
Harris — offered him a loan of fifty dollars to assist him,
which sum the Prophet gratefully accepted. Packing his
household effects, among which he concealed the plates, he
and his wife left Manchester for Harmony, a journey of
more than one hundred miles. On his way he was twice
overtaken and stopped by officers of the law, who, thinking
to discover the plates, searched the wagon carefully, but de-
parted much chagrined at not finding anything besides the
usual articles.

The Harris-Anthon Controversy.

On reaching Harmony, he established'himself at Mr. Hale's
home, where he had leisure during the next month or so, to
examine more carefully the writings on the plates, and to do

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 53

some desultory translating. He copied a few lines of char-
acters on sheets of paper, underneath some of which he
wrote the translation in English. Meantime, he prayed for
the Lord to send some one to assist him, for he himself was
but an indifferent scribe.

In February of the year 1828, Martin Harris visited him
at Harmony. Martin had been deeply impressed by his for-
mer conversation with Joseph, and therefore desired to learn
more of the latter's strange mission. Remaining for some
time at the Prophet's home, Harris departed for New York,
carrying, with Joseph's permission, the transcriptions of the
ancient characters which the Prophet had made. These he
intended submitting to learned linguists for their judgment
as to the genuineness of them, so as to satisfy his own mind
respecting the claims of the new Seer.

These copies he submitted to Charles Anthon, then ad-
junct-professor of ancient languages in Columbia College.
Acording to Harris's report to the Prophet, the Professor,
after examining the characters, pronounced them genuine,
and the translation of such of them as had been submitted as
nearly correct as the learned linguist could determine. At
Harris's request, Anthon wrote a certificate to this effect.
Putting the letter into his pocket, Martin was on the point of
leaving, when the Professor asked where the young man
spoken of had obtained knowledge of the plates. "An angel
of the Lord revealed them to him," was the reply. Professor
Anthon thereupon asked to see the certificate again, as if he
would make some changes. When he received it, he tore it
up, remarking that there was no such thing nowadays as the
ministration of angels, but adding incredulously that he
would translate the book if it were brought to him. Mr.
Harris replied that part of it was sealed. Then the scholar
answered sarcastically, "I cannot read a sealed book!" Thus,
as the Saints have always contended, were fulfilled the

54 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

words of the Prophet Isaiah uttered twenty-six hundred
years before as found in the twenty-ninth chapter of his
writings: "The vision of all is become unto you as the
words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that
is learned, saying, Read this I pray thee ; and he saith, / can-
not for it is scaled." Martin then showed the transcripts to
a Dr. Mitchell, also of New York, who, on learning what
Professor Anthon had said concerning them, confirmed the
latter's opinion.

A good deal of controversy has grown out of this ap-
parently trivial circumstance, and non-"Mormon" writers
have taken great pains to throw discredit on Martin Harris's
statements. It is doubtless a fact that when Professor An-
thon learned that the Latter-day Saint elders were quoting
him in support of what he termed a hoax, he manifested,
as was natural, no little embarrassment, and availed himself
of every opportunity to put himself in what he would regard
as a proper light. At any rate, six years after the time when
Harris called on him, the Professor, in a letter to E. D.
Howe, who, in collaboration with D. P. Hurlburt, was writ-
ing a book against "Mormonism," denied ever having said to
Martin Harris that the characters were genuine, or given
him a statement to that effect. His exact words are — "The
whole story about my pronouncing the Mormon inscription
to be 'reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics' is perfectly false.
Some years ago a plain, apparently simple-hearted farmer
called on me with a note from Dr. Mitchell, of our city, now
dead, requesting me to decipher, if possible, the paper which
the farmer would hand me, and which Dr. M. confessed he
had been unable to understand. Upon examining the paper
in question, I soon came to the conclusion that it was all a
trick — perhaps a hoax." The letter goes on to tell what Har-
ris said to Prof. Anthon, concerning the "gold book," and
then says — "The farmer added that he had been requested to

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMON ISM. 65

contribute a sum of money toward the publication of the
'golden book,' the contents of which would, as he had been
assured, produce an entire change in the world, and save it
from ruin. So urgent had been these solicitations, that he
intended selling his farm, and handing over the amount to
those who wished to publish the plates. As a last precau-
tionary step, however, he had resolved to come to New York
and obtain the opinion of the learned about the meaning of
the paper which he had brought with him, and which had
been given him as part of the contents of the book, although
no translation had been furnished at the time by the young
man with the spectacles. On hearing this odd story, I
changed my opinion about the paper, and, instead of viewing
it any longer as a hoax upon the learned, I began to regard
it as a part of a scheme to cheat the farmer of his money,
and I communicated my suspicions to him, warning him to
beware of the rogues. He requested an opinion from me in
writing, which, of course, I declined giving, and then he took
his leave, carrying his paper with him." What follows in
this somewhat extensive letter is a description of the "paper"
carried by the "plain farmer," and an account of a second vis-
it by Harris with a book which he wished to leave with the
Professor, but which the Professor would not receive. So
much for this communication to Howe.

Seven years later, namely in 1841, Professor Anthon
wrote a letter on the same subject to a Rev. Dr. T. W. Coit,
which is sometimes referred to by anti-"Mormon" writers,
but rarely quoted by them. In this letter he makes the fol-
lowing statement: "I have often heard that the Mormons
claimed me for an auxiliary but as no one until the present
time has even requested from me a statement in writing, I
have not deemed it worth while to say anything publicly on

the subject Pie then proceeded to give me the

history of the whole affair, which convinced me that he had

56 OiNli. HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

fallen into the hands of some sharper, while it left me in
great astonishment at his simplicity. On my telling the bear-
er of the paper that an attempt had been made to impose on
him and defraud him of his property, he requested me to give
him my opinion in writing about the paper which he had
shown to me. / did so without hesitation, partly for the
man's sake, and partly to let the individual behind the cur-
tain see that his trick was discovered. The import of what I
wrote was, as far as I can now recollect, that the
marks in the paper appeared to be merely an imitation of
various alphabetical characters, and had, in my opinion, no
meaning at all connected with them."

It remains for us to sum up the statements made by
Martin Harris to Joseph Smith and those, also, made by Pro-
fessor Anthon to Howe and Coit. It is clear from all
three(i) that Harris called on both Dr. Mitchell and Pro-
fessor Anthon, (2) that he carried with him a paper on
which were inscribed what purported to be ancient charac-
ters, and (3) that Harris's purpose in submitting this paper
to learned men was an honest desire to satisfy his own mind
concerning the correctness of what was written thereon so
as to be reasonably sure that Joseph Smith had the plates.
But there are some disagreements not only between what
Harris and Anthon say, but also between what the Profes-
sor says to Howe and what he says to Coit. Martin Harris
declares that Professor Anthon told him the characters were
genuine and the translation submitted was correct so far as
the Professor was able to tell. Professor Anthon denies this
and declares that what he did say was, that they
were mere imitations of various alphabetical charac-
ters and had no meaning. Harris further affirms
that Professor Anthon gave him a paper to this
effect; which the Professor denies in the letter to
Howe and admits in the communication to Coit, though

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 5'^

what he claims to have written was extremely unfavorable to
the "paper" carried by Harris.

What about these conflicting statements? It is reason-
ably certain that Professor Anthon made some favorable
comments upon the characters ; else Harris, who is accounted
even by non-"Mormons" a man of "natural shrewdness,"
would not have sold his farm to pay for the publication of
the Book of Mormon; especially when we consider that his
wife was all along bitterly opposed to the new revelation on
this very score of material loss. It is equally clear, too, that
in the certificate which the Professor gave to Martin Harris,
he must have embodied substantially the same favorable
opinion ; otherwise of what value would the certificate have
been to Harris. This idea receives confirmation from the
fact that Martin was besieged by his friends and relatives
for evidence that he had not gone mad in following what ap-
peared to them a clear case of delusion. Had he, therefore,
been able to show a statement signed by such a learned man
as Professor Anthon, he could easily have justified his con-
duct. No other statement would have answered the purpose,
and he would not have asked for one unless the oral com-
ments of the Professor had given him some ground for be-
lieving that it would be of use to him. Nor is there any
doubt that the learned linguist told Harris what he declares
in both letters he did say, namely, that an effort was made to
defraud the countryman of his property, and the rest. But
it is very probable that he said these things after learning
where "the young man with the spectacles" had obtained the
plates ; and this, in the eyes of Harris, would have been real-
ly favorable to Joseph Smith's claims and made a good im-
pression on his mind, since, when Anthon looked at the char-
acters without knowing where they came from he pro-
nounced them genuine, whereas he had aii opposite opinion
when he found out that they were connected with angelic

5ii ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

ministrations. The whole affair, after all concessions are
made of probable though vmintentional exaggeration on the
part of Harris, is extremely favorable to the statement made
by him to Joseph and published to the world shortly after-
wards.

Returning to the Prophet at Harmony, Martin related
to him what had occurred between himself and the learned
men. His doubts being for the time silenced, he left Joseph
to go to Palmyra, promising that, as soon as he could ar-
range his business affairs, he would return to assist in the
work of translation. This was early in March. About a
month later he came back, and the work of translation con-
tinued uninterruptedly for two months. j^

The Lost Manuscript. ^-^ '

But as Harris listened day after day to the wonderful words
that fell from the lips of the young Seer, his persistent skep-
ticism returned, and he sought to make another test to satis-
fy it. Now, the Prophet had a small stone, which he called a
"seerstone," and which he and his brother Hyrum had found
at the botton of a well. This stone Joseph sometimes em-
ployed, instead of the urim and thummim, to translate the
language on the plates. Martin Plarris, having found a sim-
ilar stone, substituted it for the one that Joseph used, with-
out of course saying anything to him about it. When the
Prophet and he again took up the work of translation, a long
silence followed, which was broken by the exclamation from
the Prophet: "Martin, what is the matter? all is dark!"
Harris, with shame, confessed to what he had done, excusing
himself by saying that he did it either to prove the utterance,
or stop the mouths, of fools, who declared that Joseph had
learned the sentences which he was dictating.

This circumstance passed, and Martin was forgiven,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 69

when a more serious one occurred to stop the progress of the
work for a time.

It was now approaching the middle of June. Steadily
and satisfactorily the work had progressed. Joseph had dic-
tated, and Martin had written, one hundred and sixteen
pages of foolscap. One day the latter requested the Proph-
et's permission to show the mauscript to his relatives, in or-
der, doubtless, to convince them that he was not laboring
under a delusion, but engaged in the work of God. Martin's
wife, it appears, was at the bottom of this ; for being of a
worldly turn of mind, she was strongly opposed to her hus-
band's devoting his time and money to a labor that brought
no material gain. The Prophet inquired of the Lord, with
the result that permission was not granted. But Martin was
not satisfied with the answer; he requested Joseph to ask
again. The Prophet did this, and with the same result.
Still Martin was not content ; the Prophet must ask again. A
third time therefore did Joseph importune the Lord. This
time permissioin was given on the condition that Harris
would show them only to his wife, his brother, his father and
mother, and a Mrs. Cobb, his wife's sister ; five persons in all.
Joseph bound Martin in the most solemn manner not to show
the writings to any one else. So Martin took the manuscript
and went to his home in Palmyra. Meantime, Joseph, avail-
ing himself of the opportunity afforded by Harris's absence,
of transacting some private business, went on a visit to his
father's family at Manchester. But Martin, regardless of
his covenant with Joseph and the Lord, did show the writ-
ings to others, who succeeded in surreptitiously making way
with them ; and neither he nor Joseph ever saw them again.

For his disobedience in this affair, Martin Harris was
never afterwards permitted to write for the Prophet, though
he was utterly dejected over the loss of the manuscripts and
his own unfortunate violation of a sacred oath. But the bur-

60 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISl^.

den of punishment fell on Joseph. For having- needlessly
importuned the Lord, he was deprived of the plates and the
urim and thummim. He felt most keenly his condition. But
as he sincerely repented, both were subsequently restored to
. him. Meanwhile, he had learned a valuable lesson, which he
I never forgot. "Although a man may have many revela-
tions," the Lord declared to him under these depressing cir-
cumstances, "and have power to do many mighty works ; yet
if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the coun-
sels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and
carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just
'God upon him." He instructed Joseph not to attempt a re-
translation of that part the copy of which had been lost. It
had fallen into the hands of wicked men, into whose hearts
Satan had put a purpose to alter the language of the manu-
script. If, therefore, Joseph should translate again this part
of the Book of Mormon, these men would show both copies
to the world, this second and the original in a changed form,
and declare that the Prophet could not translate twice alike ;
and thus they thought to frustrate the work of God.

What was Joseph to do then ? The Lord had made pro-
/*-^ vision for this very thing. There were some "small plates"
^ among those which Joseph had received from the angel,

which covered the same period of Nephite history as the part
that had been translated, but which containied more of re-
ligious history than the other. Readers of the Book of Mor-
mon will recall the words of Nephi and a^so those of Mor-
mon when the former made these "small plates" and the lat-
ter bound them with the abridgment which he had made for
"a wise purpose," though neither knew what that wise pur-
pose was. These the Prophet was instructed to translate and
put at the beginning in the place that would have been occu-
pied by the part which had been lost. This was the record
of Nephi and his spiritual successors down to king Benja-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 61

min's reign, covering in our present Book of Mormon the
first 157 pages. It may be remarked here, in passing, that
this ' circumstance throws considerable Hght on the vexed
question of human agency and the extent to which it is exer-
cised in the performance of duties imposed directly upon man
by Deity.

From this time till the following April, a period of near-
ly ten months, the work of translation was all but stayed, and
when it was taken up again it had to be done from the be-
ginning. Joseph was without a scribe, now that Martin Har-
ris was prohibited from assisting him. Moreover, his per-
sonal affairs required his attention. Being at this time with-
out means of support, he worked on a small farm, which he
had purchased of his father-in-law. Meantime, Joseph
prayed continually for the Lord to open the way for the fur-
ther translation of the record.

. .? c

\Oliver Cowdery as Amanuensis. '

On April 5th, 1829, Joseph received a visit from Oliver Cow-
dery, a young man whom he had not met before this. Cow-
dery had been teaching school at Manchester during the pre-
ceding winter, and having boarded with the Smith family for
a time, according to the custom of country school-teachers
in those days, he had naturally learned much from them
about the revelations of the Lord to Joseph. Moreover, he
had met David Whitmer, a young man of about his own age
living at Fayette a few miles distant, with whom he had fre-
quent conversations in relation to the golden plates which,
according to the general rumor, were in the possession of
Joseph Smith. All this had made a profound impression
upon the mind of young Oliver, and he determined to
visit the Prophet at Harmony as soon as his school was out
in the spring, for the purpose of ascertaining more certainly
the truth of what he had heard. On his way he called on

h

63 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

David Whitmer, to whom he promised to write the result of
his findings when he reached Harmony. This is how OHver
Cowdery came to visit the Prophet at this time.

That the conversation which occurred between these
two young men was satisfactory to OHver is evident from his
remaining with the Prophet to write for him. Subsequent-
ly, the Prophet received a revelation in Avhich occurs this re-
markable passage addressed to Cowdery: "If you desire a
further witness, cast your mind upon the night when you
cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning
the truth of these things. Did I not speak peace to your
mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you
have than from God? And now, behold, you have received a
witness, for if I have told you things which no man knoweth,
have you not received a witness?" Oliver Cowdery there-
upon informed Joseph that when he had been told by the^
Smith family concerning the Nephite plates, he inquired of^
the Lord one night after retiring, to know whether what he
had been told was true, and that God had manifested to him
that it was true. But he had kept the matter a secret until
now. It must have been shortly after this circumstance that
he wrote a letter to his friend David in which he declared
that he was certain of Joseph's divine mission and of his hav-
ing the plates.

Once more, therefore, the work of translation pro-
gressed rapidly and uninterruptedly. We have few details
during these months, but those we have, are important as
manifesting the growth of interest in the new revelation. A
number of important revelations were received, some of
which we shall notice in detail later on. Moreover, the
young men were visited by friends and relatives, who eager-
ly inquired what the Lord would have them do to assist in
the "marvelous work and a wonder." They were very much
aided in a material way by Joseph's old friend and former

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 63

employer, Joseph Knight, who had been interested in the
mission of the Prophet, ever since he first knew of it, and
whose horse and buggy, according to Lucy Smith's narra-
tive, the Prophet had used on the occasion when he brought
the plates home from Cumorah for the first time. During
the months that the translation was in progress at Harmony,
Mr. Knight came several times from his home in Colesville,
New York, with provisions for the inspired workers. If this
or something equivalent had not been done, it would have
been necessary for the Prophet and his scribe to lay aside
their sacred task till they could obtain means by their own
labor, to support themselves during the time when they
might be engaged in translating. Oliver Cowdery has left
on record a description of his feelings as he was perform-
ing his part of this divine work. "These were days," he de-
clares, "never to be forgotten — to sit under the sound of a
voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, awakened the ut-
most gratitude of this bosom. Day after day I continued,
uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated with
the urim and thummim." It appears that during this time
the young men had reasoned with acquaintances at Harmony
?r9|K)n the things that were absorbing their own attention ; but
these people were skeptical and suspicious. It was not long,
therefore, till there was considerable bitterness of feeling
towards them in that neighborhood, which in time threat-
ened the security of the Prophet and his companion. Mobs
endangered their bodily safety, and they were saved from
personal violence only by the interference of Mr. Hale, Jo-
seph's father-in-law; but even this good-will on the part of
Mr. Hale did not continue long. So the young men thought
of leaving Harmony.

Now, Oliver Cowdery, in fulfillment of his promise to
David Whitmer, had kept the latter informed of his labors
with the Prophet. As already stated, he wrote to David soon

64 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

after his arrival at Harmony telling- him that he was con-
vinced of Joseph's divine calling. Later, he inclosed a few
sentences of the translation, so that his friend might see what
was being done. In these letters Oliver poured forth his full
convictions of the truth so rapturously as to make a strong
impression on his friend. Some of these communications
David read to the rest of the family, and the effect was the
same on them. When, therefore, it became necessary for
Joseph and Oliver to leave Harmony in order to have peace
for their work of translation, the Prophet directed Oliver to
communicate to the Whitmers his desire to remove to their
home at Fayette. David says that this request came as a
command from the Lord. The result was, that arrange-
ments were entered into according to which the Prophet, his
wife, and Oliver were to remain at the Whitmer home until
the work was finished and that Joseph was to have the as-
sistance of one of the boys as amanuensis. In the beginning
of June the Prophet removed to Fayette, after having lived
at Harmony for about fifteen months, only about two of
which Oliver Cowdery had been his scribe.

Some very interesting details are related concerning this
removal. David Whitmer informs us that it was in the busi-
est season of the year when there was so much to do on the
farm that word came for him to take Joseph and Oliver from
Harmony to Fayette, and he thought the trip would have to
be delayed till the work was pretty well over. Nevertheless,
he, as well as all the other members of the family, was anx-
ious to hasten rather than to put it off. One morning he got
up to do his work as usual when, to his intense surprise, he
discovered that during the night about six acres of land had
been plowed. On another occasion he found that at the
close of a day's harrowing he had accomplished more in a
few hours than he had usually been able to do in two or
three days. Nor was this all. The day following this sec-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 65

end circumstance he discovered, on going out to the field to
spread some plaster, that the work had already been done.
He inquired of his sister, who lived near the field, whether
she had noticed anyone working there the day before. She
replied that she had seen three men at work, but that, sup-
posing he had employed them, she had said nothing about it,
though she had observed that they labored with unusual skill
and rapidity. These things of course hastened the journey,
and furnished the Whitmer family evidence that something
of extraordinary importance attached to their efforts to aid
the Prophet Joseph. So David took his team and wagon
and made the journey.

Upon nearing the village of Harmony, David was met
by Joseph and Oliver. "Joseph told me," said Oliver to
David, "when you started from home, where you stopped the
first night, how you read the sign at the tavern, where you
stopped the second night ; that you would be here today be-
fore dinner ; and this is why we came out to meet you." All
of which, David declared, was exactly as the Prophet had
said. Moreover, he tells us that while he, the Prophet, and
Cowdery were on their way to Fayette a pleasant-looking
old gentleman suddenly appeared by the side of the wagon.
He had a kind of knapsack on his back, with something in it
shaped like a book. Saluting them, he remarked that it was
very warm, at the same time wiping the perspiration from
his forehead. When asked if he would ride with them, he
replied "No ; I am going to Cumorah." David had never be-
fore heard this name. Suddenly the stranger disappeared.
He is described as being about five feet eight or nine inches
tall, rather heavy, having a large face, white hair and beard,
and dressed in a suit of brown woolen clothes. It was the
messenger, with the plates which he had taken from Joseph
just prior to his starting for New York.

66 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

The Book of Mormon Published.

At Fayette the plates were given back to the Prophet by
Moroni, and the translation was prosecuted with great rap-
idity. The young men and Emma Smith were treated with
the utmost kindness, not only by the Whitmer family, but
also by the neighbors. Here they found many who, instead
of opposing them, were eager to listen to their testimonies of
the truth. When, in writing, Oliver's hand became weary,
David, or John, or Peter Whitmer Jr., or Emma would take
the pen. Thus the translation went on till the work was
ready for the press.

One circumstance that happened while Joseph remained
at the Whitmer home ought not to be passed unnoticed.
David Whitmer's mother was going to milk the cows, when
she was met out near the yard by the person who had ap-
peared to David and the rest while on their way from Har-
mony to Fayette. "You have been very faithful and diligent
in your labors," he said to her, "but you are tired because of
' the increase of your toil ; it is proper, therefore, that you
should receive a witness that your faith may be strength-
ened." Thereupon he showed her the plates. "My father
and mother," says David, who relates the incident, "had a
large family of their own ; the addition to it, therefore, of
Joseph, his wife Emma, and Oliver, very greatly increased
tne toil and anxiety of my mother. And although she had
never complained, she had sometimes felt that her labor was
loo much, or at least she was perhaps beginning to feel so.
This circumstance, however, completely removed such feel-
ings, and nerved her up for her increased responsibilities."

The completion of this work was the signal for rejoic-
ing among those who had been interested in the translation.
It had been a long and toilsome labor, though not without
blessings which abundantly compensated for the difficulty of
the task. And now that it was finished, a heavy load was

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 67

taken from the shoulders of the Prophet and his companion.
Then, too, Joseph must have sustained all along a serious
weight of anxiety respecting the preservation of the plates
from unhallowed hands; for the Angel had told him that
only on the condition that he would do all in his power to
preserve them, should the wisdom of the Lord be called to
his aid. But now his sacred task was ended, and he could
return the record to its heavenly keeper. Joseph's father and
mother came to Fayette, bringing Martin Harris ; and these
three, the Whitmers, and Emma Smith, partook of the joy
which came to Joseph and Oliver on their completion of the
work assigned them by their Master.

The translation of the ancient record finished, the next
thing to be done was to obtain a publisher. This was no
small task, considering the inexperience of Joseph and the
state of public feeling in the neighborhood concerning the
probable contents of the proposed book. Joseph and Oliver
finally made arrangements with a Mr. Egbert Grandin, of
Palmyra, to print an edition of five thousand copies
for the sum of three thousand dollars. As soon
as the translation was entirely finished, which was
probably in June or July, 1829, Joseph went on a
visit to Harmony. But before his departure it
was decided (i) that Oliver should transcribe the entire
manuscript, (2) that only the copy thus made should be tak-
en to the printer's, (3) that the person taking the copy to the
printer's (usually it was Hyrum) should have a guard while
carrying it, and (4) that there should be a guard about the
printing house, night and day.

Yet with all these precautions for the safety of the man-
uscript, the Book of Mormon, or parts of it, came very near-
ly being published surreptitiously, in mutilated form, by an
unscrupulous enemy of the work. A man by the name of
Cole, evidently with the knowledge if not the consent of

68 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Grandin, attempted to publish the book serially in his paper,
called The Dogberry, but of course with a great many
changes, and was made to desist from his unlawful and
wicked purpose only by the threats of Joseph in person to
claim, by legal process, the protection of the copyright law.
Nor was this all. Later on, some of the inhabitants of Pal-
myra and the neighborhood held a meeting at which they all
bound themselves not to purchase a copy of the forthcoming
book. The printer, frightened into the belief that the book
would not be sold and that he would therefore get nothing
for his work on it, suspended the printing until Joseph Smith
and Martin Harris gave him renewed assurance that the
amount would be paid whether or not a single copy of the
book were sold. Under these conditions was the Book of
Mormon published to the world. , '

r

The Nephite Record and the Manner of Translation. ^ ^'
Thus far in this and the preceding chapter we have been
concerned only with the coming forth of the Book of Mor-
mon and the events' connected with the translation of this an-
cient record into the English language. Before leaving this
part of our narrative, however, it will be interesting to know
something about the plates themselves — their appearance, the
language in which they were written, and the like — and also
to ascertain as nearly as may be how this translation was ac-
complished.

The plates from which the Book of Mormon comes were
about seven inches in width, by eight inches in length. The
leaves were about the thickness of common tin. Each was
filled on both sides with engravings, the characters being
small and exhibiting considerable skill and ancient work-
manship. All these golden sheets were bound together in
the form of a book of about six inches in thickness, by three
rings running through the edges. Part of this metallic vol-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 69

ume was sealed. The unsealed part was translated by the
Prophet ; but the sealed part is not to be translated until the
proper time comes, which has not yet been generally re-
vealed. The language in which this ancient record was orig-
inally written was, so far as we may now determine, re-
formed Egyptian, each line running like Hebrew from right
to left, instead of from left to right like English. Not count-
ing the few instances when the book was given to the angel
for safe-keeping or when it was taken from Joseph on ac-
count of his disobedience, the Prophet had these sacred plates
in his possession from the twenty-second of September, 1827, ^ V'^""^
till some time in the early summer of 1829, a period of about
twenty-one or two months. When the translation was
completed he gave the plates back to the angel Moroni, who
has them in his keeping to this day, and will continue to
guard them until the time when the sealed part together with
other similar Nephite records shall be given to man.

A question has arisen as to how the Book of Mormon
was translated, which, however, we should not consider of
sufficient importance to notice here except for the fact that
absurd explanations have been advanced, which have been
made the ground-work of apparently unanswerable objec-
tions to the divine origin of this record. Did the Enghsh
translation appear with the Nephite characters, or was Jo-
seph enabled, by inspiration, to read the language of the .
plates, get the idea intended, and then express that idea in
such language as he had at his command ? Was the Prophet,
in other words, a mere automaton, or was he compelled to
make the highest intellectual and spiritual effort of which
he was capable ? No doubt, we shall not be able at this date
to obtain a complete, probably not a satisfactory, answer to
this question; but we shall be able to obtain a good many
established facts and then draw our inferences from these.
But care should be taken not to confound fact with inference.

to ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

The following points we may set down as pretty well
established. First, the language of the Book of Mormon as
we have it today in the English, abounds in inaccuracies of
expression. Wrong verb forms are used, for instance, refer-
ence words do not always agree with their antecedents, there
are improprieties of diction, and the style is somewhat tautol-
ogus. Secondly, Joseph Smith had small scholastic educa-
tion. "He could read without much difficulty, and write a
very imperfect hand ; and had a very limited understanding
of the elementary rules of arithmetic," Thirdly, Joseph
used two instruments with which to translate — the "seer
stone," and the urim and thummim. Martin Harris
speaks of the Prophet's employing the "seer stone"
and Oliver Cowdery mentions Joseph's use of the
"interpreters." Fourthly, the plates were before the
Prophet as he translated. Otherwise there is no signifi-
cance in his remaining behind a curtain all the time, a fact
which we learn directly from David Whitmer and indirectly
from Martin Harris. Fifthly, it required an intellectual ef-
fort to translate. This fact we find recorded in no less im-
portant a document than a revelation of the Lord to Oliver
Cowdery through the Prophet Joseph. Cowdery had desired
to translate but had apparently entertained wrong notions of
the process involved. For the Lord said to him: "Behold
you have not understood ; you have supposed that I would
give it [the gift to translate] unto you, when you took no
thought, save it was to ask of me; but, behold, I say unto
you, that yon. must study it out in your mind." Sixthly, there
had to be an emotional jpurity. This fact is testified to by
David Whitmer, who relates a circumstance that happened
to the Prophet while he was translating at the Whitmer
home in Fayette. "One morning," says David, "when he
was getting ready to continue the translation something went

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM, tl

wrong- about the house and he was put out about it. Some-
thing that Emma, his wife, had done. OHver and I went up-
stairs and Joseph came up soon after to continue the trans-
lation, but he could not do anything. He could not trans-
late a single syllable. He went down stairs, out into the or-
chard, and made supplication to the Lord; was gone about
an hour — came back to the house, asked Emma's forgive-
ness, and then came upstairs where we were and then the
translation went on all right. He could do nothing save he
was humble and faithful."

These facts will furnish a sufficient basis from which to
reason somewhat clearly concerning the manner of transla-
tion. If, as some have supposed, the English words ap-
peared beneath the Nephite characters, Joseph becomes a
mere machine, a passive instrument of interpreting the an-
cient writings, and there is no meaning to the statement of
the revelation to Oliver Cowdery or to the circumstance
mentioned by David Whitmer; and the language of the sa-
cred record, moreover, is thus exposed to all sorts of objec-
tions, inasmuch as it does not appear why the Lord should
not have given the record in correct English. It is incon-
ceivable that the peculiarities of the Book of Mormon should
be also the peculiarities of the Nephite language. On the
whole, such an explanation as this resembles the "verbal in-
spiration" theory maintained by some Christian sects con-
cerning the Hebrew Scriptures. All these facts seem to
point, therefore, only to one conclusion — that the Prophet
Joseph obtained the idea through inspiration by means of the
"seer stone" or the urim and thummim, and expressed this
in such language as he had at his command. That he viewed
the characters on the plates through one of these two instru-
ments while in the act of translating, and that it demanded
a strong intellectual and spiritual effort, are evident from
several indisputable facts. The plausibility of this explana-

t

72 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

tion is increased by the circumstance that it harmonizes facts
that on any other hypothesis yet advanced are irreconcilable.
^ The ingrammaticisms of the Book of Mormon are thus no
longer chargeable to inspiration but rather to the earthly in-
strument of interpretation, Joseph Smith. The style of the
book is just what we might expect of a young man reared
under the circumstances that surrounded the early life of the
Prophet. It is only in view of this explanation that we can
account for the tautptology, the oft-recurring words and
phrases, and the frequent errors in grammar.

Still this explanation of the manner in which the Book
of Mormon was translated is at best only an inference, a the-
ory, though as it appears, a plausible one. Joseph Smith, the
only man who was in a position to know how it was done,
has not left a word of explanation directly on this point.
But we may be certain that the Book of Mormon was divine-
ly inspired, however the translation itself was accomplished.
This, after all, is the important fact. That a young man
without even an adequate command of his own language was
able by any means whatsoever to understand and to translate
the tongue of an extinct race, a tongue which the wisest and
most scholarly among men, uninspired, could not read ; that
a boy without anything more than the merest rudiments of
an education should produce a book detailing the minutest
particulars in the life of an entire nation extending over a
period of a thousand years, and that, too, without a single
discrepancy of date or fact perceptible to the closest scrutiny
of the most hyper-critical, — these things reveal sufficiently
wherein lies the inspiration of the Book of Mormon. It is,
then, inspiration of thought not of language, of content, not
of dress. ~ /<•

)

CHAPTER IV.

THE AMERICAN BIBLE,

<l

By the Mouth of Two or Three Witnesses.

While the translation of the Book of Mormon was in prog-
ress, the Prophet learned from the record itself that when it
should be made known to the Gentiles and the remnant of
the House of Israel, three persons should view the plates by
the "power of God." This statement was confirmed by a
revelation (section 5) which Joseph received in March, 1829,
and which he "applied for and obtained at the request of
Martin Harris, who wished to be one of the witnesses.''
Subsequently David Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery earnestly
solicited thejDrivilege of becoming the other two. Upon in-
quiring of the Lord respecting the matter, the Prophet re-
ceived a revelation (section 17) in which these three men
were promised that if they exercised faith they should have a
view of the plates, and also the breast-plate, the sword of
Laban, the Urim and Thummim, and the miraculous direct-
ors. In the course of June following, this promise was real-
ized.

When the translation was completed, Joseph, as we have
seen, sent word to his parents that the work had at last been
finished. So they came to Fayette with Martin Harris.
There were, therefore, at the Whitmer home, besides the
family, four of the Smiths, Martin Harris and Oliver Cow-
dery. One morning, when all of these persons were present,
Joseph, after the customary morning devotions consisting of
singing, reading from the Scriptures, and prayer, went up to

74 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Martin and said in a tone and manner that impressed every
one present: "Martin Harris, you have got to humble your-
self before God this day, that you may obtain a forgiveness
of your sins. If you do, it is the will of God that you shall
look upon the plates, in company with Oliver Cowdery and
David Whitmer." Shortly afterwards, according to Lucy
Smith's account, Joseph, Oliver, David, and Martin left the
house and did not return till three or four in the afternoon.

What occurred in the meantime, will appear from the
narratives of the Prophet and David Whitmer. The four
men repaired to a grove not far from the Whitmer house.
Arrived there, they all knelt down upon the grass and
prayed, each in turn, beginning with the Prophet, that the
Lord would fulfill this promise to them respecting the sacred
plates. Twice they prayed thus, but without receiving an an-
swer. Thereupon Martin, rising, suggested that he might be
the cause of their prayers not being efifective, and that he
withdraw to a distance to pray alone. He did this, and the
other three renewed their supplication. They had not been
praying long when they beheld a heavenly light above and
around them, in which was standing an angel of the Loxd.
"It was not like the light of the sun," declares David Whit-
mer, in speaking of this heavenly manifestation,"nor like that
of fire, but more glorious and beautiful. It extended away
around us, I cannot tell how far, but in the midst of this light
there appeared, as it were, a table with many records or
plates upon it, besides the plates of the Book of Mormon,
also the sword of Laban, the directors and the interpreters."
He also says that they "saw the brass plates, the plates of the
Book of Ether, the plates containing the records of the wick-
edness and secret combinations of the people of the world
down to the time of their being engraved, and many other
plates." The angel held in his hands the record which the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 75

young men desired to view, and turned over the goU^n
leaves one by one that they might see distinctly the engrav-
ings thereon. Addressing David, the heavenly messenger
very significantly said, "Blessed is the Lord and he that i<eeps
his commandments." Then they heard a voice from above
them, saying: "These plates have been revealed by the
power of God. The translation of them which you have
seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of all you
now see and hear." And the vision closed. Joseph then left
David and Oliver to look for Martin, whom he soon found a
short distance away vainly supplicating the Lord. At Har-
ris's request, the Prophet joined him in prayer, whereupon
the vision was repeated. The skeptical Martin was overcome
with transports of joy, and he exclaimed in his ecstasy, " 'Tis
enough ! Mine eyes have beheld ! mine eyes have beheld !"

Lucy Smith's narrative says that Joseph, on coming into
the house after this heavenly manifestation "exclaimed,
'Father, mother, you do not know how happy I am. The
Lord has now caused the plates to be shown to three more
besides myself. They have seen the angel, who has testified
to them, and they will have to bear witness to the truth of
what I have said. For now they know for themselves, that I
did not go about to deceive the people. I feel as If I were re-
lieved of a burden which was almost too heavy for me 1o
bear; and it rejoices my soul that I am no longer to be en-
tirely alone in the world.' Upon this, Martin Harris came in.
He seemed almost overcome with joy, and testified boldly to
what he had both seen and heard. And so did David and
Oliver, adding that no tongue could express the joy of their
hearts, and the greatness of the things which they had both
seen and heard !"

Drawing up the following document, they signed it with
their own hands and published it to the world with the Book

76 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

of Mormon. It is necessary however, to a proper under-
standing of one phrase in it, to know that whereas the testi-
mony of the witnesses is now published on the fly-leaf of the
Book of Mormon, it originally appeared at the close of the
volume.

"Be it known unto all nations, kindred, tongues, and
people unto whom this work shall come, that we, through the
grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have
seen the plates which contain this record, which is a recoi d
of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their
brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from
the tower of which hath been spoken ; and we also know that
they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for
his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a
surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we
have seen the engravings which are upon the plates ; and they
have been shewn unto- us by the power of God, and not oi
man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an an-
gel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid
before our eyes, tliat we beheld and saw the plates, and the
engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of
God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld
and bear record that these things are true ; and it is marvel-
lous in our eyes, nevertheless the voice of the Lord com-
manded us that we should bear record of it ; wherefore, to be
obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony
of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in
Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and
be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and
shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens. And the hon-
our be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,
which is one God. Amen.

Oliver Cowdery,
David Whitmer,
Martin Harris."'

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 77

The Book of Mormon declares also that "a few others"
besides the three special witnesses should see the plates.
There is no mention, however, of "the power of God" in
connection with the statement, as there is with the announce-
ment concerning the three, and one is led to infer that there
was to be a difference between the two sets of testimony.
Not long after the plates were shown to the three witnesses
under the conditions we have described, they were also
shown to eight others. The Prophet, with four of the Whit-
mers and Hyrum Page, was on his way to Manchester to
look after the printing of the Book of Mormon, when, near
the Smith residence, he was joined by his father and his
brothers, Hyrum and Samuel. They all repaired to the place
where the Smiths had been accustomed to pay their secret
devotions to God ; and here the Prophet showed these eight
men the plates from which he had translated the book. The
following testimony, drawn up shortly afterwards and signed
by the witnesses, they published with the other testimony in
the Book of Mormon. It is as follows :

"Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and
people unto whom this work shall come, that Joseph Smith,
Jun., the translator of this work^ has shewn unto us the
plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance
of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has
translated, we did handle with our hands ; and we also saw
the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of
ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we
bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has
shewn unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a
surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we
have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to
witness unto the world that which we have seen ; and we lie
not, God bearing witness of it.

Christian Whitmer, PIiram Page,

Jacob Whitmer, Joseph Smith, Sen.,

Peter Whitmer, Jun. Hyrum Smith,

John Whitmer, Samuel H. Smith."

78 f/- ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Grounds of Belief in these Testimonies.

Such, according- to the records of the Church, is the testi-
mony of the three and of the eight witnesses to the divine
origin of the Book of Mormon. And here we should let the
matter rest were it not for the fact that the words of these
men have so often been disputed, and their characters as-
sailed. We shall, therefore, examine what they say on the
subject with a view to ascertaining its probability, first, the
testimony of the three and afterwards that of the eight.

One thing- is certain, and that is, that they always spoke
and acted as if they themselves had not the slightest doubt
of the reality of the vision. Not one of them seems to have
had any predisposition to be visionary but at least one, Mar-
tin Harris, was inclined to be skeptical respecting the super-
natural. All three left the Church. Cowdery and Whitmer
having been excommuriicate"3', Harris having merely drifted
away. And it is singular that the two that were cut ofT the
Church were charged, not with denying- any fundamental
doctrine of "Mormonism," but chiefly with rebellion against
the authority of the very man who had been instrumental
in obtaining them the vision of the Nephite plates. Oliver
Cowdery died in 1850, David Whitmer in 1888, and Martin
Harris in 1875. The latter two, therefore, lived to an ad-
vanced age. And yet not one of these men on any occasion,
in word or deed, intimated that he ever entertained any
doubt whatever of the truth of the vision he claimed to have
received. The last words of each, at a time when, of all
times, truth is expected to sit upon the lips, were a reitera-
tion of his testimony respecting the divine authenticity of
the Book of Mormon.

Were these men deceived, did they enter into a collu-
sion with Joseph Smith to deceive the world, or was their
testimony true?

In the first place, there is nothing improbable in the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 79

claim that they received a vision. Moses saw God face to
face. Angels visited Abraham, Lot, Jacob, and scores of
others. John the Baptist heard the voice of the Lord speak-
ing from above at the time when Jesus was baptized. It is
true that visions have not been received for hundreds of
years, but there is nothing in the Scriptures to forbid them
in our day, or to declare that man should not receive them
after Bible times. On the other hand, the probability of the
latter-day vision is established by several passages of Scrip-
ture. Joel, in an access of prophetic inspiration, declared
that, in the last days, "your daughters shall prophecy, your
old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see
vTsfons." The Revelator speaks of an angel "flying in the
midst of heaven" in the hour of God's judgment with a
message to man on the earth. Many other passages might
be quoted to the same effect. Nor is there anything improb-
able in the circumstances of their seeing golden plates bear-
ing thereon the history of the ancient Americans. It is not
unlikely that this continent was inhabited at the time which
this vision requires. Indeed, the presence of people here
when America was discovered by Europeans, is positive
proof that the continent was inhabited at a remote period in
the past; and if it was, there is nothing improbable in the
claim that the Lord revealed himself to the people, that they
wrote their history on metallic plates, and that these plates
I should be given to some prophet in our day. God, said the
ancient apostle, "hath made of one blood all nations of men
for to dwell on the face of the earth ;" and Jesus declared to
the Jews of his day, "Other sheep I have which are not of
this fold ; them also must I visit that there shall be one shep-
herd and one fold." Hence the vision, as such, is not im-
probable.

In the next place, the conditions under which the vision
was received were such as to preclude the probability that

^M

80 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the witnesses were deceived. In the testimony attached to
the Book of Mormon, all three declare ( i ) that they saw an
angel, the plates, and the writing thereon, and (2) that they
heard the voice of the Lord speaking from above announc-
ing the correctness of the translation and commanding them
to testify to all the world concerning what they then heard
and saw; and Oliver Cowdery is known to have declared
during his life, that he had "handled the plates with his
hands." Here, then, is no room for illusion, unless all the
supernatural manifestations recorded in the Bible were also
illusions. These men had the evidence of sight and of hear-
ing, and at least one of them, and probably all three, had the
evidence also of touch. Could any revelation from God be
more nearly perfect ?

Thirdly, the circumstances in the relationship between
these three witnesses and Joseph Smith forbid us to believe
that there was a collusion in the matter of their testimony.
On the hypothesis of a collusion, the relation of these four
men to one another would have been very different from
what it was. Had they entered into an agreement to swear
to a falsehood, there would have been during their whole
lives a bond of close attachment that nothing could break.
There would have been no rebukes for sin from the leader,
no excommunication for transgression. Fear that the se-
cret would be revealed would have restrained Joseph Smith
from any unfriendly actions towards the others. It would
have been a constant finger-to-the-lip association. But this
was not the relation that these four men sustained towards
one another. The head of the Church was too free from
such restraints to do any crooking of the pregnant hinges of
the knee, that faith might follow fawning. Hence, when
these three witnesses disowned his authority as a prophet of
God, and spoke against him in this position, he was as quick
to excommunicate them as he would have been in the case

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. ol

of the humblest member. By this act of severing- them from p 1)
the Church, the Prophet substantially invited them, to deny i ''y'^^^^'^'S^
their testimony if they dared. And had there been any se- -V »

cret compact, what a fine opportunity there was for them to
get revenge! But they did not dcn\' their testimony; in-
stead, they constantly affirmed its truth.

Then, again, no possible motive can be attributed to these
men for continuing to reiterate their testimony under these
conditions other than that arising from truth. On the con-
trary, there was every inducement during their lives, both
while they were in the Church and after they left it, to con-
fess their deception, if it were a deception. As has often
been pointed out, every motive for which men act was lack-
ing in their case, on the supposition that they were engaged
in a religious fraud. There were no honors for them, there
was nothing to gratify an ambition for place or power. The •
sect was small and violently hated and opposed wherever it
was heard of. There was no wealth to reward cupidity.
The "Mormons" were a people stripped and peeled. If
these men had any property to begin with they were likely
to have it taken from them at any moment in the persecu-
tions and drivings that befell the society prior to 1838^ Then,
too, any motive finding its roots in pecuniary gam cannot be
attributed to Martin Harris on other grounds ; for he sold his
farm to pay for the printing of the Book of Mormon, and
though he was "afterwards reimbursed for this sacrifice, still
it^was at the time a total loss and the chances were against
his ever getting back any money. It is not at all probable
that men would have acted as these witnesses did with the
ordinary motives of human conduct entirely absent, unless
we conceive them to have been, in the language of orthodox
Christians, "totally depraved" ; and this hypothesis would
receive ample contradiction in the lives of the men in other
respects. Besides, the temptation to reveal the secret, if

82 J ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

there were one, would be too great for ordinary human be-
ings, under these circumstances, to resist. While these men
remained in the Church, poverty and persecution would be
their inevitable portion, and a bad reputation among their
neighbors, the Gentiles. Knowing, as they must have
known, that their testimony and their associations with the
"Mormons" were the occasion of all the ill-will they en-
dured, the inducement to deny their testimony, if false,
would have been overwhelming. And after they left the
Church, this inducement, on the hypothesis always of the
fraudulent character of their testimony, would have in-
creased tenfold. They had broken friendship with the
Prophet, and he had, in their opinion, done them wrong. The
natural tendency would have been in the direction of re-
venge. That they would have sought and obtained it, if
they had entered into collusion with Joseph Smith, is highly
probable from the spirit both Oliver Cowdery and David
Whitmcr manifested when the charges of apostasy were
lodged against them. In addition to all this there would be
the trying circumstance of constantly testifying to men
who besought them for information concerning their early
connection with "Alormonism," that the Book of Mormon
was true; whereas they were no longer connected with the
Church or the people that had brought it forth. That this
was singularly trying to their sensibility is evident from
what has come down to us respecting this severe ordeal. A
young man once visited David Whitmer for the purpose of
hearing from his own lips his testimony, and naturally
enough, exhibited a desire to ask questions in relation to de-
tails connected with the vision. The aged David, with a
look which the elder has never forgotten, turned upon him
and exclaimed : "Young man, you seem to think it an honor
to be one of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon ; but I tell
you it is not, it is a burden !" And such it must indeed have

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 83

iieen. But under all these circumstances when, if their testi-
mony was false, they would surely have denied it, we find
them as firm in declaring its truth as they were under other
conditions. The only possible motive that we can attribute
to them, in the premises, is that growing out of their native
integrity. They did receijye^ a_jyisipn; and they dared not
(j^y it. And, what is more, their conduct is perfectly con-
ceivable on the hypothesis that they were honest men telling
tHe "truth.

But there is a certain class of persons — chiefly those
who are engaged in the investigation of the material
phenomena^ofthe universe — ^to whom this testimony of the
three witnesses counts for nothing. "The miraculous^" they
declare in the language of Hume, "is the impossible." There
is no such thing as a vision or a revelation of the divine ;
there is no supernatural in a religious sense. And this state-
ment applies equally to the miraculous in the Bible. This
objection comes mainly from the non-religious. And the
dass is a ver^;__l§Lrg;e and intelligent one. These altogether
refuse to listen to any one who claims to have received a
vision, on the grounds that this very fact disqualifies him
from giving rational testimony. And so we have an appeal
to the evidence furnished by the eight witnesses. The testi-
mony of this second group of witnesses has been suffered by
the Saints to fall into undeserved neglect, as if it were less
convincing than the other. And by a certain kind of "his-
.torians" it is flippantly dismissed with the statement that
"the first four signers were members of the Whitmer fam-
ily ; Hiram Page was a root-doctor by calling, and a son-in-
law of Peter Whitmer Sr. ; and the three Smiths were the
Prophet's father and his two brothers !" This testimony
\may be less convincing to some people, namely, those who
believe in the Bible ; but to another class it is more convinc-
ing— it is merely a matter of whether reason or the Scriptures

84 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

be accepted as the standard of judgment. The Lord made
no mistake in permitting the two kinds of testimony ; each is
the complement of the other, and both together form a wit-
ness for the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, to over-
turn which requires more than an exclamation point or an
elevation of the eyebrows.

It is well to notice the difference between the conditions
under which this testimony was given and those under which
the other was received. The first was accompanied by the
power of God, — something that was totally absent in
the second, which was, on the contrary, a plain
matter-of-fact exhibition of the plates by the Proph-
et to these eight men. Those who reject the testi-
mony of the three witnesses would do so, as
already remarked, on the ground that the men were not in
their natural state of mind. They were wrought up, su£h^
persons would say, to a state where they might be acted
upon by a hypnotic influence, where the imagination would
be the most active faculty. Hence, according to this class,
they would not on this account be competent witnesses. But
here, in this second testimony, is an instance where the su-
pernatural was entirely absent. There was no divine light,
there was no angel, there was no voice from above. Nine
men had met under the most ordinary human conditions,
and one of them had handed out for the inspection of the
others, a set of plates. Those eight men declare that they
"hefted" the plates and inspected the writing tliereon, which
bore traces of having been engraved by a skilfull hand in an
ancient age.

Now these men, like the others, were either deceived, or
they were deceivers, or their testimony is true. The "ex-
planation" has been offered by non-"Mormons" that perhaps
Joseph had some plates, which after having been made to
bear the appearance of age and skill, he exhibited to the men.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 85

^ , I But this theory is too improbable in view of the youth and
/ lack of general information on the part of the Prophet. Be-
sides, it is not in harmony with what is known of the char-
acter of Joseph both before and after this time; for candor,
openness was his chief characteristic. A second explanation
is equally untenable. It is that the testimony is a pure fab-

'^ rication. This is made improbable by the fact that subse-
quently three out of the eight — Jacob AA'hitmer, John Whit-
mer, and Hiram Page, — left the Church, and still continued
to maintain that their testimony was true. The only tenable
position, therefore, is that they did see the Nephite plates
from which the Book of Mormon was translated. And this
harmonizes all the facts in the case with what we know of
their character. ^

(y^What the Book of Mormon Is. '^ '

This remarkable book gives an account of the ancient
inhabitants of America from about twenty-two hundred
years before Christ to the close of the fourth century A. D.
It is partly historical, partly doctrinal, partly prophetical,
and was written and preserved to inform the "remnant of
the house of Israel" — the Lamanites — concerning their ori-
gin, to bring both them and the Gentile nations to a knowl-
edge of the true God and his dealings with his children on
this western hemisphere in former times, and also to cor-
roborate the Hebrew Scriptures as a witness for God and a
future life. It reveals the existence of two distinct races,
of which we shall speak separately.

First in order of time, though not in order of import-
ance in the Nephite record, is the Jaredite nation, named
from Jared, one of its first leaders. More than two thou-
sand years before the Christian era, a colony of a few fam-
ilies left Chaldea and, under divine guidance, crossed the
ocean in eight barges and landed in America. Here this col-

86 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

ony, in the course of fourteen or fifteen centuries, grew into
a numerous and powerful race, occupying Central and North
America, and becoming highly civilized. The chief occupa-
tions among them were agriculture, building, and manufac-
turing, which arts they brought to a considerable degree of
perfection. The ruins of this ancient people are a strong
attestation of their skill in architecture and of their general
civilization. They continued as a nation till about six hun-
dred years before Christ, when in consequence of intestine
strife and rebellion against the law of God given them
through prophets, their national life was brought to a violent
termination. The swift narrative of this mighty and exten-
sive empire forms one of the most striking features of the
style of the Book of Mormon.

While the Jaredites were fighting their last battles, an-
other colony — this time a few Israelitish families from
Jerusalem, in Palestine — landed in South America, led, as
the other had been, by the divine hand. In a few years after
their arrival in their "Promised Land," the company divided
into two parts. Each took the name of its leader ; hence one
was called Nephites, after Nephi, the other was named
Lamanites, from Laman. The latter, in consequence of
wickedness, were cursed with "a skin of darkness." becom-
ing wild and uncivilized ; while the former, retaining their
natural color, kept on progressing. The Lamanites are the
real ancestors of our American Indians, and this accounts
for their color. The Nephites. about four hundred years
after they left Jerusalem were joined by the Mulekites, a
people who also came from the Holy Land, but eleven year?
later than Lehi's colony. The Nephites and Lamanites lived
on as two distinct nations, occupying two separate parts of
the country, with frequent and sometimes long periods of
destructive war between them, till more than four hundred

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 87

years after Christ, when the white population was entirely
destroyed by the more powerful Lamanites.

The Nephites had in their possession a copy of the Jew-
ish Scriptures down to, and including^ some of the prophe-
cies of, Jeremiah, which the colony had brought with them
from Jerusalem ; and this circumstance accounts for the fre-
quent quotations in the Book of Mormon from the Bible. Of
all their doings — their prosperit''- religion, society, govern-
ment, and battles with the Lamanites — these people kept a
detailed account upon metallic plates. Two sets of records
were in use at the same time, some on which was recorded
the political history, and others on which was written their
religious history. The Nephites were a civilized people.
They had most of the arts and sciences that the cultivated
nations of the European world could boast of at the time
America was discovered, though that civilization had then
for the most part, long since disappeared. The chief occu-
pation of the people was agriculture.

The Book of Mormon as a history covers in all more
than twenty-six hundred years, and narrates the events in
the lives of three separate and distinct nations — the Ne-
phites, the Lam.anites, and the Taredites. It is not a first-
hand history, by which is meant that the book, as we have
it, was not written by men who lived at the time of the
events of which they write; but it is for the most part, an
abridgment made by Mormon, a man who lived in the last
period of which the book treats. This abridgment was made
from narratives composed by successive historians. The
only exception to this is the first one hundred and fifty-seven
pages (to the "Words of Mormon"), which were written
by Nephi, Jacob. Enos, Jarom, Omni, Amaron, Chemish,
Abinadom, and Amaleki ; and the matter in the last fifty-
three pages (from p. 570 to the end), v.^hich, with the ex-
ception of a few epistles written by his father, Mormon, and

88 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

some general religious laws in vogue among the Nephites,
was the work of Moroni. But the "Book of Ether," too, is
an abridgment made from larger historical records among
the Jaredites. Hence, the Book of Mormon, as we have it
now, is the work of twelve men, of whom three — Nephi,
Mormon, and Moroni — wrote all but twenty-eight pages out
of a total of six hundred and twenty-three. And yet, not-
withstanding this vast period of time covered by the work
and the extensive and complicated threads of narrative, not
a single contradiction or anachronism has been discovered by
the closest and most critical investigation. Surely, such lit-
erary consistency is no small achievement for an unlearned
youth of twenty-five years !

The Prophet Joseph is said to have remarked concerning
the Book of IMormon that it is the most correct of any rec-
ord in the world, that it is the keystone of our religion, and
that a man will get nearer to God by obeying its precepts
than by living in accordance with those of any other volume.*
By the expression "most correct" he means, of course, the
most perfect in doctrine. Any one who reads this sacred
work without prejudice must concede that its teachings are
pure and elevated. All that is uplifting in religion may be
found in the Book of Mormon, and nothing impure or ob-
scene. It teaches that Christ is the one standard of perfec-
tion, and encourages conscious imitation of the great exam-
ple on pain of the second death. It condemns in the strong-
est terms all those who do and love the wrong. These
teachings were given the Nephites by the numerous prophets
that arose among them and by our Savior in person, who
ministered to these people after his Resurrection in Pales-
tine. If nothing else would convince the ordinary believer
in the Bible that the Nephite record is a volume of sacred
truth, the final appeal of IMoroni. one of the Nephites who
wrote it, and the person who hid it up unto the Lord, should

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 89

be sufficiently moving', if not to know of its truth, yet at
least to make an attempt to know ; for he says, as he wan-
ders about in loneliness and is on the point of delivering
himself up to whatever fate awaits him from his savage pur-
suers : "I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the
eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not
true ; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real in-
tent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it
unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost ; and by the power
of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

How the Book of Mormon Did not Originate.
No sooner had the Nephite record been published to the
world than it was violently, even maliciously, assailed with
every weapon that could be broueht to bear against it by
those who refused to accept the "Mormon" explanation of
its origin. Here at any rate was the book. If Joseph did
not write it, either with or without divine assistance, who
did ? It did not write itself. So men began cudgeling their
brains for a satisfactory account of the volume.

Mr. John Fisk, with a flippancy that lays him open to
the grave suspicion of never having read the volume he en-
deavors to account for, or studied the conditions under
which it was brought forth, declares, in his Discovery of
America, that any ignorant man familiar with the language
of the Bible could have written the Book of Mormon. . Now,
against this gratuitous assertion of the learned historian we
may at least set the findings of those non-"Mormon" writers
who have seriously thought upon their subject, and the list
would include names equally honorable with that of Mr.
Fisk. For the concensus of opinion respecting this point is,
that no "ignorant man," however "familiar with the lan-
guage of the Bible," could have written the book ; else un-
believers would not have turned the world upside down in
their search for a person of superior ability to Joseph Smith

90 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

to whom could be ascribed the credit of writing it. Mr.
Fisk has therefore, greatly underestimated the difficulties
encountered by the uneducated in Hterary composition, es-
pecially in view of the undeniable fact that the Book of
Mormon, on the hypothesis of its being a modern work, pre-
supposes in its author a keen attention to consistency of de-
tail and a mind capable of sustained imagination. Without
entering any further into particulars regarding this "explan-
ation," we may dismiss the theory with the foregoing brief
statement, and pass to a consideration of another, which is
more commonly met with in the mouths of those who do not
believe in the Book of Mormon — namely the Spaulding
story.

It was in 1834. The Church had been organized at
Fayette, Sene^S^ffli'nty, New York, and had been removed
thence to Kirtland and vicinity, in Ohio. In this place, a
man named Di^iJi^^^^^^ joined its ranks. Anti-"Mor-
mon" writers have been in the habit of dubbing him "Dr.
Philastus Hurlburt" so as to lend dignity to this explana-
tion ; but the man was never a "doctor" of law or medicine
or divinity or of anything else ; he had been given this first
name "Doctor" because he was the seventh son, and, accord-
ing to the belief of a certain class at the time, was expected
to become a physician. He had been a Methodist, but had
been expelled from that denomination for immoral conduct^_
vSoon after his conversion to "Mormonism" he was ordained
to the priesthood and sent on a mission to Pennsylvania ; but
falling into disrepute there, he was recalled. Tried be.fore
the brethren at Kirtland for conduct unbecoming a Latter-
day Saint, hp„was fnnn|^ gir'^^^' and threatened with excom-
munication if he did not repent and improve his life. He
manifested signs of penitence, and was forgiven. But he
declared afterwards — and he may be believed, for the thing
is in strict accord with the rest of his conduct— that he had

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 91

only shammed repentance in order to ascertain whether he
could deceive the Prophet Joseph. He again fell into sin,
for which, in June, 1833, he was cut off the Church. His
disappointed anibitionsoug^ht revenge. Collecting together
the enemies of the Saints in and about Kirtland, he incited
them to deeds of violence against the Prophet and the Saints
generally, ^n April. 1834, he was arrested and tried for
threatening Joseph's life and compelled by the court to
"enter into a new recognizance, with good and sufficient se-
curity, in the sum of two hundred dollars, hereafter to keep
the peace and be of good behavior to the citizens of the
State of Ohio generally, and to the said Joseph Smith, Jun-
ior, in particular, for the period of six months."

Now, it happened that while doing missionary work in
Pennsylvania, part of which, of course, consisted in preach-
ing the Book of Mormon, he heard of a I\Ir. Solomon
^paulding and a certain manuscript which he had written
and which^ it was said, resembled the Nephite Record.
HurlEiirt, however, his mind occupied with other matters,
paid no attention at the time to either the man or his story.
But revenge against his one-time religious friends now
whetted his curiosity in both. So he went post-haste to his
old field of labor, his interest keenly alive to any scrap of
information he might brush up concerning the alleged simi-
larities between the Manuscript and the "Mormon Bible."

Naturally enough, his eagerness was rewarded by a
wealth of important "facts." He learned that, in 1812, there
ha4J|ved at Conneaut, Ohio, a man by the name of Solomon
Spaulding. This man had received, it was asserted, a "good
education," having been graduated from Dartmouth College
in 1785. For some time after his graduation he had held a
pastorate of an obscure Church, but bcrmning dissatisfied
with Christianitv^ he had turned infidel. While living in
Ohio, he became interested in the ancient moundbuilders,

92 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

whose ruins are so numerous in that State, and conceived an
ambition to write " a fanciful history of the ancient races of
this country." This ambition was subsequently realized in a
work which bore the attractive title The Manuscript Story,
and which he was in the habit of reading for the delectation
of his neighbors. In the same^^ear (i8i2)_he removed with
his family to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, for the purpose, it ap-
pears, of getting his work published. Here he fell in with a
printer named Patterson, to whom he submitted the manu-
script. Mr. Patterson, it was claimed, returned it to Mr.
Spaulding with the advice "to polish it up." After two
years' residence at Pittsburg the family moved to Amity, in
the same State, where the author died in i8l6. This manu-
script story, Hurlburt was assured, resembled very closely
the contents of the Book of Mormon — so closely, in fact,
that the old neighbors of Mr. Spaulding were struck with
the similarities as soon as they heard the latter read by the
"Mormon" elders, though it had been eighteen or twenty
years since they had been amused by the "romance." Like
the Book of Mormon, they told him, it^was writjijpijn
"Bible st}jf." The expression, "and it came to pass," oc::
curred so often that some of the neighbors used to ^all the
author "Old Come-to-pass." Nay, they further affirmed, the
proper names were identical with those in the "MormDii
Bible." They distinctly remembered the names "Negiii,."
"Lehi," and "Moroni."

But where was the Story f and how was Hurlburt to get
it? Spaulding's widow, by this time Mrs. Davidson, was
living in Massachusetts; no doubt she would have it. To
hejili^erefore, he wrote. She replied that it was now in a
small trunk which had belonged to her husband, and which
was at her uncle's in Pennsylvania. But Mr. Hurlburt
might have it, provided he would return it and give her,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

9Ji

when it was published, one-half the proceeds. Hurlburt
promised, and she let him take the manuscript.

Acting on the hints he had received during his absence
from Ohio, he returned to the neighborhood of Kirtland
bearing Mr. Spaulding's Story and also weighty thoughts
concerning the Book of Mormon, the latter of which he in-
tended to elaborate into a volume. He lacked means, how-
ever, to publish it. So he revealed enough of his theory in
public lectures to induce his friends to contribute several
hundred dollars towards the enterprise. In due time, the
book appeared, bearing the sensational title, Moniioiiis}ii
l^^^^j by E. p. Howe, in which the Book of Mormon
was declared to have originated in the SpajLilding Manu-
script Story.

The substance of this H^we-Hurlburt explanation is as
follows : While Spaulding was at Pittsburg, there lived at
this place a young man named Sidney Rigdon, who worked
for Mr. Patterson in the printing office. Young Rigdon, al-
ways on the look-out, it seems, for future greatness, and hav-
ing an opportunity and plenty of time while the manuscript
lay on the shelf of the printing house, copied it word for
word, and stowed away his copy till a propitious moment
should arrive when he might make something out of it. In
course of time he drifted into the ministry — we are using
the language of non-"Mormon" writers — wandering around
from one denomination to another, but meantime revolving
in his mind his literary project, and working at odd mo-
ments upon a new version of the Sinx^. When his work was
completed, which differed from that of Spaulding chiefly in
that he had injected into it a strong vein of theology, he
named it the Book of Mormon^ and ^ave it to Joseph Smith,
witiTTnsfructTofis' to saythat it had been revealeH to him by
an angel. Such, in brief, is the theory advanced in Mormon-
ism Unveiled to account for the Nephite record.

94 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

This Howe-Hurlburt explanation of the origin of tht
"Mormon Bible" was instantly accepted by those who re-
fused to listen to Joseph Smith's. And wherever the Latter-
day Saint elders went they were confronted with the bald
assertion : "Joseph Smith did not write the book, Sidney
Rigdon wrote it from the Spaulding manuscript!" The the-
ory, to paraphrase what has been asserted of Hume's "the-
miraculous-in-the-impossible" idea, has always served as a
sort of Aladdin's lamp with those who lack the time, the
brains, or the inclination to look into the story for them-
selves. Rub this wonderful lamp, and all the hitherto mys-
terious avenues of knowledge respecting the origin of the
work, open up, and the nefarious conduct of Joseph Smith
and his colleagues in the matter springs up like a vision. A
catch phrase was needed, which, on lips of the ignorant,
would have identically the same eflfect as on the lips of the
learned, and at the same time require no exertion on the
part of either in the way of study or reflection. It was in-
vented by Howe and Hurlburt. It has a talismanic effect
when uttered with a sober countenance and grave accents.
Men who are utterly incapable of following a train of
thought for ten minutes at a time bandy this explanation
about among their friends when someone suggests how
difficult it is to arrive at a conclusion respecting the origin
of the Book of Mormon. We venture the assertion that no
man can honestly examine this theory and then conscien-
tiously advance it as a satisfactory explanation of the
Nephite record.

In support of this hypothesis concerning the origin of
the Book of Mormon not a scintilla of real evidence has ever
been adduced, either in this original statefflbfat BvLJiowe-
Hurlburt or in the^lTuncTfeH-and-one revampings of, it by lat-
er_exponents. It is true that there has been published a
"terrifying" array of affidavits by old persons who soberly

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 95

avow that, in their early youth, they heard Solomon
Spaulding read parts of his manuscript, and that, after a
lapse of from twenty to even sixty years, they have a vivid
recollection of names and incidents contained in the Story.
But it is over-taxing our powers of credulity to ask us to be-
lieve that so slight an incident as this could have made so
^riking an impression on tlieir minds, when there was noth-
ing in the nature of the thing itself to awaken at the time,
anything more than the most commonplace interest.

There are too many weak places in the theory to entitle
it to any serious consideration as an explanation of how we
got the Book of Mormon.

In the first place, it has never been shown that Sidney
Rigdori was at Pittsburg vlicn Spaulding was there, that he
was ever in the employ oi Patterson, the printer, and that,
therefore. Tie was ever in a position to purloin the manu-
script. All statements to the contrary are mere assertion.
Rigdon himself declared that he had never been at Pitts-
hnrg till 1822, eightj^-ears after Spaulding's departure from
that city with his manuscript securely locked up in a trunk.
But granting that Rigdon was at Patterson's printing office
while Spaulding was at Pittsburg, what motive could he
have had to steal the Story? It is highly improbable, to
say the least, that Rigdon would have kept the manuscript
by him from 1812 till 1830^ a period of eighteen years. But
even if we admit that he did all this, it has to be shown how
a man of Rigdon's position and ability would steal such a
piece of writing as this Spaulding Manuscript is. In the
absence, therefore, of any working motive on the part of
Sidney Rigdon in this alleged conduct in relation to Spauld-
ing's narrative, the "Mormons" may well be pardoned for
refusing to credit the story.

In^ the next place, the^advocates ofthis theory have
never been able to explain how it wasThat Joseph Smith

V

96 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

and Sidney Rigdon ^t together priorto the_p,ublkation of
the Book of ]\Iormon. The assertion that they did is wholly
gratuitous. The testimony of every one connected with the
matter is against the allegation. Joseph Smith, in his jour-
nal, records that the first meeting between him and Rigdon
took place in December, 1830. Parley P._£t:att, in_Jii^
Autobiography, gives the circumstances of his meeting with
Sidney in the fall of 1830, and presenting him with a copy
of the Book of Mormon, which the latter was by no means
desirous of receiving. Oliver Cowdery declared that he
wrote the Book of Mormon with his own hand. And, final-
ly, Sidney Rigdon himself solemnly protested to the world
that he neverTaw or heard of the Nephite record till it was
presented to him by Parley .R^PratL in the latter part of
1830, several months after its publication. A theory, sure-
ly, has little claim to our respect which is based on the mere
assumption that all these men deliberately lied.

Concerning Rigdon's testimony we may add another
word, inasmuch as a recent historian has averred Jhat this
great preacher never directly denied his connection with the
origin of the Book of Mormon. In 1863 his son, J-Ohn W.
Rigdon, visited Utah and was so much concerned over the
association which his father was commonly thought to have
had with the Prophet prior to the publication of the book,
that he determined, when he returned to the East, to obtain
a final statement from his father. Accordingly, when the
two met again, John W. said: "You have always told me
one story, that you never saw the Book of Mormon until it
was presented to you by Parley P. Pratt and Oliver Cow-
dery ; that all you ever knew of the origin of that book was
what they told you and what Joseph Smith and the witness-
es who claimed to have seen the plates had told you. Is this
true? If so, all right, if it is not, you owe it to me and to
your family to tell it. You are an old man and you will soon

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. W?

pass away, and I wish to know if Joseph Smith, in your in-
timacy with him for fourteen years, has not said something
to you that led you to beheve he had obtained that book in
some other way than what he told you. Give me all you
know about it, that I may know the truth." Sidney Rigdon
looked at his son a moment, raised his hand above his head,
and said slowly and emphatically, his eyes moistening
with tears: "My son, I can swear before high heaven that
what I have told von ^hnut thp nrigin ni that book is true.
Your mother and sister, Mrs. Athalia Robinson, were pres-
ent when that book was handed to me in Mentor, Ohio, and
all I ever knew about the origin of the book was what Parley
P. Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Joseph Smith, and the witnesses
wHb claimed they saw the plates have told me, and in all of
my intimacy with Joseph Smith he never told me but the
one story, and that was that he found it engraved upon gold
plates in a hill near Palmyra, New York, and that an angel
had appeared to him and directed him where to find it, and
I have never to you or to any one else, told but the one story,
and that I now repeat to you." "I believed him," continues
Mr. John W. Rigdon, "and now believe that he told me the
truth. He also said to me after that that Mormonism was
tcue ; that Joseph Smith was a Prophet, and this world
would find it out some day." It is difficult to believe that
SiiJne}^ Rigdon would face the stern and terrible realities of
the eternal world with a lie so foul and deadly on his lips.
A short time ago (in 1904) John W. Rigdon demonstrated
his belief in his father's words by joining the Church in New
_YorkCity.

It has always been the custom of anti-"Mormon" writ-
ers to evade these weak points on the ground that "it is more
important to establish the fact that a certain thing was done
than to prove just how or zvhen it was done." But since it
is clear from the facts in the case that "neither time nor

d8 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

place did then adhere," and that our opponents are endeavor-
ing "to make both," the precise point at issue is /L2iti_and
i^hen. Such an evasion as this is additional evidence of the
A^akness of the Hurlburt-Howe explanation.

A recent historical inquiry" into "Mormonism" makes
what it imagines a strong point in favor of the Spaulding
theory out of the relationship which Sidney Rigdon sus-
tained to Joseph Smith. "We shall find," it says, "that, al-
most from the beginning of their removal to Ohio, Smith
held him in a subjection which can be explained only on the
theory that Rigdon, the prominent churchman, had placed
himself completely in the power of the unprincipled Smith,
and that instead of exhibiting self-reliance, he accepted insult
after insult until, just before Smith's death, he was prac-
tically without influence in the church." But it is extremely
improbable that a man "as self-reliant and smart as Rigdon
was" would have submitted with so much serviUty to the
dictation of "an ignorant country clown." This explanation,
defeats its purpose by raising a fresh barrier to our belief
in the hypothesis. The thing we must believe, if we credit
this theory, is, that a really learned and eloquent preacher,
"with a superabundant gift of tongue and every form of ut-
terance" at his command, would steal, without any conceiv-
able motive, a miserable manuscript that any schoolboy
would be ashamed to call his own; that an ambitious and
irascible temper, so accustomed to leadership everywhere
else, would cringe in abject submission to the contemptu-
ous dictates of an uncouth country boy twelve years his
junior; and that this man could not, in the thirty-five years
remaining of his life, though removed from the Church, re-
cover from this personal despotism ! And what motive could
Sidney Rigdon have had for all this craven servility, which
utterly broke his spirit, despoiled his highest hopes, and
crushed his very manhood? Poverty, ignominy, persecu-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 99

tion, and disgrace all his days! If Rigdon had been a
preacher of any other sect, his eloquence and learning would
have commanded a reasonable competence during his life.
With any other religion he might have enjoyed a life of ease
and respectability, instead of sharing with the "Mormons"
the hatred and opposition of mankind. In a society such as,
according to those who believe that he was the "organizing
genius of Mormonism," he possessed the ability to effect, he
might have been the foremost character, instead of remain-
ing the mere dupe and tool of another, who is regarded as
greatly his inferior. Then, too, if we would believe this
theory, we must not call to mind the magnificent opportunity
he had when the death of Joseph Smith removed the only
partner of his "guilty secret !" One word of his on this oc-
casion, granting his relationship with the Prophet to have
been such as his enemies affirm, would have sounded the
death-knell of "Mormonism," and would have brought him
honor and praise from those who had fought against the
Church. That he would have done this had he been in pos-
session of such a secret is evident from what he did do ; for
he did his utmost to break un the Church, when he discov-
ered that it was^notjikelxjto give encouragement to his am-
bition for leadership. Besides, a man who is capable of per-
petrating such a fraud as is charged against Sidney Rigdon
would scarcely have any scruples about revealing the secret
when it was so clearly to his advantage to do so. At any
rate, we may well be pardoned for entertaining doubts as to
this alleged wickedness on the part of Rigdon, so long as
there is no explanation of his silence when the Prophet died.
There is a more sensible way to account for this "servility"
and "meanness of spirit" on the part of Sidney Rigdon ; that,
namely, which accounts for the "servility" and "meanness" of
"Mormons" generally : Truth took hold of his heart, plain,

100 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Bible truth, and he "feared" to lose his soul by utterly re-
nouncing it.

The Spaulding Manuscript Recovered.
\ Such in general were the arguments with which the Saints
;^ met the bald assertions of their opponents. But of recent
years this absurd theoi y has had new light thrown upon it
by the recovery of the original Manuscript StgryMLSolo-
mon Spaulding.

When this Spaulding origin of the Nephite record was
first invented, the Saints, of course, demanded that the man-
uscript be produced as proof that there was sufficient resem-
blance between it and the Book of Mormon to warrant the
conclusion that the one originated in the other. Or, if this
were not done, that there be exhibited at least quotations
from it. But it was asserted that the Manuscript had been
destroyed in a fire that occurred in the printing establish-
ment owned by E. D. Howe, the author of Mormonism Un-
veiled. For Hurlburt had neither published the work nor
returned it to its owner, Mrs. Davidson, though she had re-
peatedly requested him to send it back according to his
agreement. And so the matter rested until a few years ago.

In 1884, the late President James H. Fairchild, oi,
Oberlin College, Ohio, was on a visit to Honolulu, and was
staying with his old friend Mr. L. L. Rice, who had pur-
chased the printing establishment of Howe, the author and
publisher of Mormonism Unveiled. Mr. Rice and Mr. Fair-
child were looking over the ntmierous old documents which
the former had in his possession, to see if there was anything
valuable pertaining to the Civil War, when they came upon
the Manuscript Story of Mr. Spaulding's. Having heard of
the alleged connection between this narrative and the Book
of Mormon, their curiosity was naturally aroused concern-
ing this old manuscript, and they sat down and carefully com-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 101

pared the two works. The result of their examination may
be learned from Mr. Fairchild's published statement: "The
theory of the origin of the Book of Mormon in the tradi-
tional manuscript of Solomon Spaulding- will probably have
to be relinquished Some other explana-
tion of the Book of Mormon must be found, if any explana-
tion is required." Two years later, t^}e_^[£nj^criPLiStory
was published, nearly half a century after it was said to have
been destroyed.

The contents of this notorious work are as follows :
Some time during the reign of Constantine, in Rome, a cer-
tain Fabius embarks for Britain with an important message
for the Islanders. Near the British coast, however, the
ship encounters a storm, is driven about aimlessly by the
raging elements, and, finally, in fulfillment of a prediction
by some one on board, approaches the coast of America.
Upon landing, the Romans are welcomed by the /'Deli-
wares." a tribe of Indians, among whom they decide^ to make
a home. Now, it happened that they had on board their
vessel seven young women, three of whom were "ladies of
rank" and the rest "healthy bucksom Lasses." Desiring to
make the best of their lot, it was decided, since there were
more men than women, that these latter should chose hus-
bands ; which they did, leaving the rest of the men to live in
single blessedness or select dusky helpmates. After a resi-
dence of about two years among the "Deliwares," they move
westward several days' journey to a tribe called the
"OlTops." These natives, by reason of the labors of a wise
man named Lobaska, are more civilized and refined than
the tribe they iTaTTeft. In this part of the country, there ex-
ist two great empires, one on the south side of the Ohio.
called Kentuck, the other on the north side, bearing the
name Sciota. Here follows a description of the natives,
their habits, laws, government, and religion. Upon this

102 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

background, which occupies the first fifty-five pages — nearly
half the book — there is constructed a slender love story.
Elseon, a prince of the Kentucks, pays a visit to the court of
Sciota, where he falls in love with Lamesa, daughter of the
Sciotan emperor. A law of both nations forbids the mar-
riage of these two, but they nevertheless determine to wed ;
so they elope to the empire of the Kentucks, where there
prevails a more liberal construction of the law, and they arc
joined in matrimony. War therefore breaks out between
these two peoples, in which thousands are slain on both
sides, and in which victory flies to the banner of the Ken-
tucks. At this4)oint the narrative suddenly breaks off, evi-
dently unfinished.

The work in published form contains about one-tenth
as much reading matter as the Book of Mormon. It is
wretchedly composed ; it is filled with dashes, indicating
broken sentences ; only in the latter half, which is by far the
best written, are there any traces of imagination, and even
then there is a frequent falling from the sublime to the lu-
dicrous ; there are occasional passages containing obscene
suggestions ; and the task of reading it is intolerably tedious.
The manuscript, as we have it, answers perfectly to the de-
scription given it by Mr. Patterson in his advice to the au-
thor "to polish it up" ; for certainly one can hardly conceive
a literary work more painfully in need of polishing.

While, it must be admitted, there are some general re-
semblances between this work and the Book of Mormon,
both in content and in external details, still, candor and hon-
esty will force from the bitterest anti-" Mormon" of reason-
able veracity the admission that the differences between the
two works are so great as forever to preclude the possibility
of any connection between them. Both the Manuscript
Story and the Nephite Record claim to be translations ; but
the former is a translation of a Latin parchment found in an

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 103

Ohio mound, the latter is a translation of golden plates
written in what is known as reformed Egyptian. Mormon's
abridgment was revealed through the instrumentality of an
angel and translated by direct inspiration ; the Story of Fa-
bius is a "romance" discovered by the merest accident, the
fiction of discovery being merely a cheap literary device to
increase its sale. The one is a record of Hebrew colonies led
hither by the divine hand, v/hile the other is an account of
a Roman company driven to America by the mishap of ad-
verse winds. The ManuscriJ^t ^torv assumes the existence ' /
of the tribes of Indians on this Continent at the time when /
the. Romans landed here; the Book of Mormon gives the-' l
oii-in (if l!ic Redman in the western hemisphere. Spaul- •
king's narrative, if it arouse interest at all, will do so en-
tirely by reason of a slender element of love, the religious
being wholly absent except where the creeds and ceremonies
of the heathen natives are described; Mormon's history, on
the contrary, is wanting in the love-element and depends
mainly upon the religious, which colors every sentence.

£.

CHAPTER V.

FROM OUT THE WILDERNESS.

When the prophet Joseph was told in the first vision that the
"Christian" world had long since departed from the truth,
he was, in all probability, also informed that, if he continued
faithful, he should be the instrument in the hands of God in
establishing the true Church on the earth. All the visions
which the youthful seer had received, and even the transla-
tion of the Nephite Scriptures, were but preparatory to the
organization of the Church. It were a small matter, after
all, that the world should know of their apostate condition,
that the Book of Mormon contained the "fulness of the
everlasting gospel," that communication between heaven and
earth was again a fact; there must be the true Church of
Christ for them to join in order for salvation to be secured.
And so the next step necessary to the progress of this great
work was the effecting of a Church organization.

Restoration of the Priesthood.

But in order to do this it was necessary that the proper
priesthood be restored. The purposFoT'tlTe fifst vTsTon was,
in part, to inform Joseph and the world that the true Church
was not on the earth, and therefore, that men did not have
the necessary authority to administer in the ordinances of the
gospel. The object of the revelations of Moroni was to
disclose the ancient nations of America to the modern world,
and to authorize and bring about the translation of the
records of those peoples. In none of these numerous and
irfportant revelations was the holy priesthood restored to

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 105

men. It required, therefore, a new dispensation of the di-
vine goodness before such an important responsibility could
iTCSssurneH^ by the young Prophet.

Two distinct orders of the priesthood were revealed to
the Prophet at different times. The Aaronic was rnnf erred
by John the Baptist ; and the Melchisedek. fiv tjjfi^ajadent
A polities Pefpr. James, and John.

The restoration of tlic Aaronic priesthood occurred in
May^i82q, wl^ilc Joseph and Oliver were translating the
Book of Mormon. The occasion was their reading in the
Nephite record of baptism for the remission of sin. Not
understanding the passage, the young men went into the
woods to pray about it. While thus engaged, they were vis-
ited by a heavenly messenger, who stood before them en-
veloped in a cloud of light. Placing his hands upon the
heads of the young men, he ordained them to the Aaronic
priesthood, saying: "Upon you my fellow servants, in the
name of Messiah, I confer the priesthood of Aaron, which
holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gos-
pel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the re-
mission of sins ; and this shall never be taken from the earth,
untiTTlne sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the
Lord in righteousness." The messenger was John the Bap-
tist ; and he explained to the young men that he acted under
the direction of Apostles Peter, James, and John, who, he
added, would in due time bestow upon them the higher or
Melchisedek priesthood. This Aaronic priesthood, the An-
geTsaid, TiaSnot the power of laying on hands for the gift
of the Holy Ghost, which authority should be conferred on
them later.

The heavenly messenger gave them instructions as to
what they were to do after his departure. They were to
baptize and afterwards to ordain each other. This they did
precisely as the Angel had commanded. Toseoh baptizing and

106 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

ordaining Oliver first. The Prophet's record of this event
goes on to say that upon coming out of the water, each in
turn was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied many
things that should shortly come to pass and that pertained
to the rise of the Church.

Of this really dramatic event the Prophet makes no
comment whatever; he is satisfied with merely noting the
facts. Nevertheless, it must have created in him feelings of
the greatest awe and impressiveness. But Oliver's exuber-
ant feelings in later years over-flowed into expressions of
the wildest raptures of delight, which showed that the very
memory of this divine manifestation thrilled his soul with
heavenly ecstasy. "What joy !" he exclaims, "what wonder !
.what amazement ! While the world was racked and dis-
tracted— while millions were groping as the blind for the
wall, and while all men were resting upon uncertainty, as a
general mass, our eyes beheld — our ears heard. As in the
blaze of day ; yes, more — above the glitter of the May sun-
beam, which then shed its brilliancy over the face of nature !
Then his voice, though mild, pierced to the centre, and his
words, T am thy fellow servant,' dispelled every fear. We
listened, we gazed, we admired ! 'Twas the voice of an an-
gel from glory — 'twas a message from the Most High, and
as we heard we rejoiced, while His love enkindled upon
our souls, and we were rapt in the vision of the Almighty. . .
earth nor men, with the eloquence of time cannot begin to
clothe language in as interesting and sublime a manner as
this holy personage."

All this occurred at Harmony. Fearing persecution if
they communicated the facts - ■" iliis vision to anyone, they
kept the matter entirely . j themselves.

Not long after this — some time, most probably, in the
latter part of this same month, between Harmony, \" ff ^lUP"
sylvania, and Colesville, N^ew York, on the Susquehanna

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 107

river — the promise of the Angel was fulfilled, and the high-
er priesthood was restored by the ancient apostles, Peter.
James, and John. We do not know the precise date or place
at which this important manifestation took place; we can
obtain only an approximate time and location, and even these
we have, for the most part, to get by a series of inferences
from revelations to the Prophet. But however uncertain we
may be regarding these comparatively unimportant matters,
the fact itself remains — the power of apostleship, the Mel-
chisedek priesthood, was confcrrttl upon the prophet JosepJi
and Oliver Cowdery under the hands of those who were or-
dainea. by Christ himself and who were among the last to
hold it in ancient times.

The Church Organized.

Thus empowered from on high, Joseph still awaited the time
when the Lord should instruct him to proceed further. Very
early in April, 1830, he received a revelation (section 267 in
which he was informed how to organize the Church.

"Accordingly, on__^Tu£Siiaj;* the' sixth da\- of this month,
Joseph and a few others who had received his work with
favor met at the home of "Father" Peter Whitmer. at Fay-
ette, Seneca county, and proceeded to organize the Church
according to the instructions in the revelation. The meeting
was opened by prayer, after which Joseph inquired of those
present whether they were willing to accept himself and
Oliver Cowdery "as their teachers in the things of the king-
dom of God," and whether they were willing that the
Church should be organized according to the commandment
to do so. The result was a unanimous affirmative vote.
Joseph then laid his hands upon the head of Oliver Cowdery
and_^ ordained liirn an elder, and Oliver, in turn, ordained
Joseph to the same ofiicc. The sacrament of the Lord's sup-
per was administered, and each of those who had been bap-

108 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

tized was confirmed by the laying on of hands for the recep-
tion of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit was manifest at the
meeting in a remarkable manner; all rejoiced exceedingly
that once more the true Church was on the earth ; and some
of those present exercised the gift of prophecy. Only six
persons constituted the membership of the new organiza-
tion, when it was created. Their names are : Joseph SmitJi
Jr., Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, Peter Whitmer Jr.,
Samuel H. Smith, and JUavicT \VIiitmer. All of_ these had
"Been baptized already, Joseph and Oliver on the day John
the Baptist appeared to them; Samuel on the twenty-fifth
of the same month ; and the other three some time in June
following; but all, it seems, were baptized again on the 6th
of April, the day of the organization.

A question has arisen concerning the total number of
persons who had been baptized prior to the organization of
the Church. It is well known that there were only six be-
longing to the first organization, this number being neces-
sary to fulfill the law of New York State at this time ; but it
is also known that there were others who had been bap-
tized, but whose names are not given in this account of the
organization. The number of those who had been baptized
before Aj^ixii-^th has been variously estimated at sixteen,
thirty, thirty-five, forty, and seventy-six. All these esti-
mates, however, are too high. In the minutes of the second
conference of the Church, held at Fayette, on the 26th of
September, 1830, the m.embership is given at sixty-two. In
the same place it is stated that out of this numljer thirty-five
had joined since "the last conference", which was held on
.|mTeQth. This would make the membership of the Church
on this last date twenty-seven. Now, according to the rec-
ords of the Church, Oliver Cowdery had baptized four per-
sons on the 6th of April; on the nth of this month he had
baptized six; find on the i8th seven more; and Newel

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 109

Knight had been baptized in the last week of May ; which
makes a total of eighteen who had joined the Church be-
tween April 6th and June 9th. This would leave only nine
persons who had beeii^baatized prioi\tji the_day . oF organ-
ization.

While the meeting was yet in session Joseph received
the revelation recorded in section 21 of the Doctrine and
Covenants. The Church wasjnstructed in this revelation to
keeg3 record, in which Joseph was to be called "a seer, a
translator, a prophet, an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of
the Church through the will of the Father, and the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ." The people were commanded to
"give heed unto all his words and commandments which he
shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holi-
ness before me ; for his word ye shall receive, as if from mine
own mouth, in all patience and faith." And they were
promised that if they did this, the gates of hell should not
prevail against them, and the Lord, through his Prophet,
would "move the cause of Zion in mighty power for good."
]ji the same revelation Oliver Cowdery was designated the
first preacher of the Church, not only to the Saints, but also
of the world, Jew and GentKfi, After this, the Prophet says,
"soine others" were "called out" and ordained "to different
offices in the priesthood," according to the manifestations of
the Spirit. The meeting was then dismissed. There were
present "several persons, who had not been baptized," but
who became convinced of the truth and shortly afterwards
joined the Church.

Another meeting was held at the Whitmer home on the
following Sunday, April nth, at which Oliver Cowdery
preached the hrst public discourse under the auspices of the
new organization. On the same day six, and on the i8th
seven, persons were added to the Church,

1

110 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

The Name of the Neiv Society.

There does not seem to have been any distinct name assigned
the new society on this occasion. For several years after-
watds, in fact, it was called variously "The Church of
QjXisJt,-' "The Church of Jesus Christ," "The_ Qiurch oF
God," and even "The Church of the Latter-day Saints."
Very frequently from that day to this it has been called by
writers within and without the organization "The Mormon
Church," and the religion "Mormonism," though these terms
seem not to have been employed very often by the early
Saints. The true name of the Church as given by the Lord
himself in a revelation dated April 26th, j_§3§, is "The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Whatsoever
appellation is given it, we must understand, is altogether un-
authorized, unless it is given by the Lord. The term "Mor-
mon Church," it is safe to say, will never be the designation
of this organization, for the simple reason that it is not
Mormon's Church, any more than it is Joseph Smith's or
Brigham Young's, or any one's else, except Christ's. Like
the term "Christian," it was given in derision ; and the word,
wherever it appears, should for this and the reason just
named, be enclosed in the customary quotation marks.

"The appropriateness of this title," remarks Elder B. H.
Roberts, in a foot note to the "History of the Church," (Vol.
2, p. 24), "is self evident, and in it there is a beautiful recog-
nition of the relationship both of the Lord Jesus Christ and
of the Saints to the organization. It is 'The Church of
Jesus Christ.' It is the Lord's ; He owns it, He organized it.
It is the Sacred Depository of His truth. It is his instru-
mentality for promulgating all those spiritual truths with
which He would have mankind acquainted. It is His instru-
mentality for perfecting the Saints, as well as for the work
of the ministry. It is His in all these respects ; but it is an
institution which also belongs to the Saints. It is their ref-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. Ill

uge from the confusion and religious doubt of the world. It
is their instructor in principle, doctrine, and righteousness.
It is their guide in matters of faith and morals. They have
a conjoint ownership in it with Jesus Christ, which owner-
ship is beautifully recognized in the latter part of the title.
'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,' is equiv-
alent to 'The Church of Jesus Christ,' and 'The Church of
the Latter-day Saints.' "

CHAPTER VI.

NOT OF THE WORLIX

No sooner was the new Church organized than it met with
opposition. At Fayette, attempts were made to do violence
to the converts of the "new"' gospel. Here Joseph had
probably met with less opposition than at any place where
he had lived since the memorable year 1820. He had been
ridiculed for his belief wherever else he went. Here he had
been treated at least with respect, and in many cases with
positive friendship. Now, however, much of this was
changed. When it was found that he was obtaining a fol-
lowing, and was actually organizing this following into a
church, those who did not believe in him or his work sought
to interfere with its progress. Not only at Fayette was op-
position manifested. Colesville, in New York, and Har-
mony, in Pennsylvania, were scenes of more or less opposi-
tion.

The First Miracle.

At Colesville, the disturbance between the Saints and their
opponents was of a somewhat serious character, and creat-
ed much trouble among those who had been baptized. It
was at this place, it will be remembered, that Joseph Knight
lived. The Prophet, it seems, had known Mr. Knight for a
number of years. He had worked for the latter during
much of the time that intervened between the first vision and
the year 1827, when he received the plates. He had, more-
over, been several times befriended by Mr. Knight while
translating the record. Mr. Knight, therefore was well ac-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 118

quainted with Joseph's character, and, though a Universal-
ist, had been impressed with the young man's message. Jo-
seph had often visited the Knights, where he had always
been made welcome and where he had often had conversa-
tions on religion.

Mr. Knight had a son Newel, with whom Joseph was on
intimate terms. Newel had promised Joseph that he would
pray at one of the meetings v/hich were held at his father's
house ; but when the time came, he failed to do so. Upon
being chided by the Prophet for his neglect, he said that he
would pray alone instead of in public. This he attempted to
do one day in a grove not far from his home, when he was
seized by a strange power which bound his tongue so that he
could not speak. Shortly afterwards he returned to his
house. He had no sooner reached home than he was again
seized by this terrible power, but with such violence this time
as to result in all manner of bodily contortions. He was
tossed about the room in a most frightful manner. He suc-
ceeded in making his wife understand that he wished Joseph
to come to his aid ; and she immediately went for the Proph-
et. As soon as Joseph entered the room Newel said, "I am
possessed by an evil spirit, and I want 3^ou to rebuke him."
The Prophet replied, "If you believe that I can do it, it shall
be done." And almost unconsciously he commanded the evil
spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ, to depart. Immediately
Newel was made well, and he declared that he saw the Devil
leave him and pass out of the room. The Spirit of the Lord
now entered him, giving him a feeling of supreme joy. It
lifted him bodily from the bed where he lay, till his head and
shoulders touched the ceiling. This was the first miracle
ever performed in this dispensation, "and it was done," re-
marks the Prophet in speaking of it later, "not by the power
of man, but by the power of God, to whom be glorv forever."

114 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

A number of those who witnessed it were non-members
of the Church, but they joined soon afterwards.

Of course the news of this miracle soon spread over the
neighborhood. Before this, when people began to attend the
meetings and to believe the new faith, religious jealousy be-
gan to manifest itself, endeavoring to prevent the work from
spreading among the people. This wonderful manifestation,
of course, only added fuel to the flame of this opposing spirit,
which grew during the successes of the Saints till it was a
formidable power against the truth. Meetings were held at
the Knight home and elsewhere, and were attended by the
people in the vicinity. Alarm grew apace. One minister, it
is said, failing in his efforts to persuade a young lady, a sis-
ter of Newel Knight's wife, from listening to the Elders and
attending their meetings, secured from her father a power
of attorney over her and took her away from the place ; but
even this extreme measure was ineffectual, for she after-
wards returned and was baptized. Failing in a mild way to
turn the people from the gospel, the enemy resorted to vio-
lence.

Arrests and Trials of Joseph.

Some time later than this, Joseph, with his wife Emma and
two or three Elders, went to Colesville for the purpose of at-
tending to a number of baptisms. Saturday evening some of
the Saints made a dam in a creek so that, on the following
day, the ordinance might be performed. But during the
night the dam was torn out by an enemy. On Monday, how-
ever, the converts were baptized early in the morning before
any opposition could be manifested to such a degree as to
prevent the work. Finding their efforts thwarted thus, a
mob to the number of about fifty, collected before Knight's
house, where the Prophet and his friends were staying.
Joseph went out and spoke to them calmly, but without

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. Il5

pacifying them. Finally they left without doing any other
injury than offending, with profanity and threatenings, the
sensitive ears of those who were the objects of their rage.

The next morning an officer came to the house and ar-
rested Joseph for setting the country in an uproar. This
officer, however, before leaving with his prisoner, revealed a
plot that had been made to get the Prophet into the hands of
a mob, but expressed his determination to frustrate this
wicked design. The two were soon on their way to South
Bainbridge, in an adjacent county, where the Prophet was
to be tried. On their way they passed a crowd of men, evi-
dently those of whom the sheriff had spoken, who stood
waiting foi' the approach of the two. The officer, however,
whipped up his horse, and left them running in the rear
venting themselves in curses and yells. Arrived at Bain-
bridge, the friendly officer took his prisoner to an inn and
protected him from any possible danger, giving him the only
bed in the room, while he himself lay on the floor, with his
feet against the door, ready to rise at the first alarm.

In due time the trial took place. Every eft'ort that mal-
ice could put forth was exerted by the Prophet's enemies to
convict him of an offence against the law. Witnesses who
knew nothing of the Prophet's character and history except
from hearsay, were allowed to testify against him. Every-
one who knew him personally — as for example, Josiah Stoal,
Joseph and Newel Knight — had nothing but good to say of
him. An effort was made to prove that Joseph had stolen a
yoke of oxen from Mr. Stoal, but the latter testified on the
stand that he held Joseph's note for the amount of the pur-
chase, and that he would dispose of more oxen to him on the
same terms. Joseph was of course discharged, the judge ad-
vising the young man's accusers to go home and spend their
time in more useful and less mischievous employment.

As soon, during the trial, as it appeared that Joseph

116 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM,

could not be convicted of any offence against the law, his ac-
cusers sent to Broome county for another warrant, delaying
the court by the most trifling matters until it reached them.
Hence, as soon as the Prophet was released, which was about
midnight, he was a second time apprehended for offences al-
leged to have been committed in Broome county. This time,
being in the custody of an officer who was in harmony with
the mob, he was subjected to ill-usage. He was compelled,
for instance, to travel a distance of fifteen miles, at the end
of which he was forced to sleep in the arms of his cruel
guard, who trembled with apprehension lest his prisoner
should escape. His hunger, moreover, was appeased by
crusts of bread, and water, the only food which he was per-
mitted to have.

The trial began at ten o'clock and continued till past
four in the morning, without intermission. The whole
country was dragged for men who would testify against the
Prophet, whether they knew him or not. The counsel for
the state endeavored to wrest Newel Knight's testimony con-
cerning the miracle wrought in his behalf into evidence
against Joseph as a teacher of a false religion ; as if the advo-
cacy of spiritual error were a crime against the temporal law !
After two hours were spent by the lawyers in arguing the
case, the prisoner was pronounced "not guilty" and dis-
charged. The judges — for there were three — did not, like
the judge in the former case, tell the false accusers that they
ought to be engaged in better work, but to put on as good
a face as possible to the mob, gave the accused a severe rep-
rimand. Joseph was once more a free man.

In both trials the Prophet was ably defended by a Mr.
Reid. who, though now a farmer, had been a practicing at-
torney well-versed in the law. Mr. Reid, several years after
this, testified that when approached by Joseph's friends to
tnke the case he felt deeply impressed "to go," as he put it,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 117

"to defend the Lord's annointed." After the second trial the
officer who acted so cruelly toward Joseph came to the
Prophet and apologized for his maltreatment, and to prove
his sincerity assisted him to turn aside a third attempt to ar-
rest him.

Harmony was really the home of the Prophet from the
time he first went there to translate the plates till the present,
although he had been away most of the time since he and
Oliver went to live at the Whitmer's, in Fayette. Joseph's
father-in-law, was, just before the time of which we are now
speaking, particularly favorable to the work. Especially did
he entertain no bitterness for Joseph. Indeed, the latter had
some hopes of eventually bringing Mr. Hale and his family
into the Church. During the time when the work of trans-
lation was carried on at Harmony, Joseph and Oliver had
many times owed their freedom from persecution, and even
mob violence, to the friendship of the Hales. Now, however,
it was different. When the Prophet returned to his home
after the organization of the Church, he found the family
very bitter against him. A Methodist minister had been la-
boring, during his absence, to turn them against Joseph, and
had uttered many base falsehoods against him, which the
family believed. Joseph, when he returned, tried to win
them over to his cause ; but was unsuccessful ; they were set
in their opposition. When, after this, persecution was start-
ed against the Prophet, and mob violence threatened his life,
Mr. Hale refused longer to exert his influence to protect his
son-in-law. Hence, Joseph was forced to leave Harmony,
and take up his residence at Fayette. This breech between
Joseph and his wife's relatives was never repaired.

In addition to this opposition from without there oc-
curred two instances, though at different times, showmg that
there existed dissention within the Church. The first con-
cerned Oliver Cowdery in particular. Elder Cowdery, it

lis ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

seems, had been pondering over the revelations given through
the Prophet. He wrote to Joseph, who was then Hving at
Harmony, commanding him "in the name of God" to erase
some words in one of the revelations, "that no priestcraft be
among" us." Joseph wrote to him asking by what authority
he commanded him to "add to or diminish from" a revelation
given by the Lord. Shortly afterwards the Prophet visited
Oliver at Fayette and found that he had misled the Whitmer
family into believing that those particular words he had ob-
jected to were wrong. However, it was not long before Jo-
seph convinced them all that the words were in entire har-
mony with the rest of the revelation ; and peace and union
were restored. Another similar error arose in the Church,
this time involving, chiefly, Hiram Page. Pie had in his pos-
session a certain stone by which he claimed to have received
some revelations concerning the upbuilding of Zion and other
things, at variance with the word of God to the Prophet and
that also in the New Testament. But when he was shown
his error he entirely renounced it, as did those also whom he
had deceived. Thus Satan began to waylay some of the
Saints by endeavoring to counterfeit the revelations of the
Lord. But as these errors were uprooted almost as soon as
planted, they did little or no harm.

The Peace Which Passe th U nderstanding.
Neither opposition from without, however, nor discord with-
in the Church was to be the only lot of the infant organiza-
tion. There were blessings also in store for the Saints. The
very opposition, as it has so often proved since, was a source
of subsequent joy. Dreams and visions began to illumine
their minds, in fulfillment of the Prophet Joel's prediction.
Joseph continued to receive revelations for the guidance of
the Church. Everywhere the work prospered, members be-
ing added almost every week. The Lord frequently mani-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 119

fested his wisdom and power in their behalf. Once, when it
was necessary to confirm the persons who had been bap-
tized under the threatening circumstances at Colesville which
we have just given, the Prophet, in company with his brother
Ilyrum, and John and David Whitmer, undertook to perform
this duty. A reward of five dollars had been offered any one
who would give information of the arrival of any elders.
Nevertheless, these brethren went through the town, held a
meeting at which those who had been baptized were con-
firmed, and returned to their homes, without being recog-
nized by their enemies at Colesville, though the latter had
eyed them curiously as they passed. Afterwards the Prophet
heard that his enemies had been informed, when it was too
late, of the visit of the elders, and that a mob had gathered,
annoying the brethren all the next day.

During this time two conferences of the Church were
held, at which evidences of divine favor were received by the
faithful Saints.

The first was held on the 9th of June. There were
present about thirty Saints, besides a number who were
either believers or who desired to learn of the new faith. The
sacrament was administered, some persons who had been re-
cently baptized, were confirmed, and others were ordained to
the priesthood. The Holy Spirit was poured out upon the
Saints in a miraculous manner. Some prophesied and oth-
ers saw visions. Newel Knight declared that he saw the fu-
ture of the great work which the Lord was establishing on
the earth, and that he beheld Jesus Christ sitting on the
right hand of the Father. Some of the Saints who were
thus under the influence of the Spirit were entirely overcome
thereby and had to be laid upon beds or couches until they
recovered their natural strength.

Another conference was held at Fayette on the 26th of
the September following, which continued for three days.

120 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Here too the sacrament was administered, persons previously
baptized were confirmed, men were ordained to the priest-
hood, and other matters of a spiritual nature were attended
to. It was at this conference that Hiram Page renounced the
"revelations" he had received through his curious stone. It
was here too that so much was said concerning the work
among the Lamanites as to cause many of the brethren to
inquire more closely into the promises of the Lord to this
benighted race. "During this conference," the Prophet
writes, "the utmost harmony prevailed, and all things were
settled satisfactorily to all present, and a desire was manifest-
ed by all the Saints to go forward and labor with all their
powers to spread the great and glorious principles of truth,
which had been revealed by our Heavenly Father." A num-
ber were converted to the truth at this conference.

Thus passed away the year 1830. We have no means
of knowing what the exact membership of the Church was
at this time, but it had grown very rapidly since the sixth
day of April. Whether in sunshine or in shower, it pros-
pered marvelously, and the new year "opened with a prospect
great and glorious for the welfare of the kingdom."

PART SECOND.
On the Banks of the Ohio and the Missouri,

CHAPTER I.

THE LAND OF SHINEHAH.

The Amission to the Lamanites.

The Book of Mormon is replete with predictions of great-
ness to come upon the"remnant of the House of Israel" when
the record of their forefathers should have been revealed to
the Gentiles. One passage declares that they shall receive
the Nephite record and thus learn of their origin, that
through this and other means "they shall come to
a knowledge of Jesus Christ" and the great work
of human redemption, and, finally, that through their
adherence to the gospel they shall become, before
many generations shall have passed away, "a. white
and delightsome people." Another goes on to tell, in
the most glowing terms, how, after humiliation and oppres-
sion at the hands of alien nations, their ancient power and
glory shall come upon them, and they shall stalk in the
midst of the Gentiles like a young lion among the flocks of
sheep, treading down and tearing in pieces, whom none can
deliver. Another prediction assigns to the Lamanites a
prominent part in the building of the New Jerusalem.

It was perfectly natural, therefore, that the early Saints
should conceive an interest in the American Indians and be

122 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

eager to know if the time had come when these glorious prc-
directions concerning them should be fulfilled. The first inti-
mation of this interest that we have any record of, is found at
the time when a conference of the Church was held at Fay-
ette in September, 1830. "Several of the Elders," remarks
the Prophet in referring to thiy 0Ccasioi'i7"manifested a great
desire respecting the remnants of the House of Joseph, the
Lamanites, residing in the West." In answer to this desire
came the revelation contained in section thirty-two of the
Doctrine and Covenants, calling Parley_J\__Pratt and Ziba
T^tprsnn on a mission "into the wiuTerness among the La-
manites." Oliv^ Cowdery an3^ Pjeter WJntnier, Jr.,- had al-
ready been called to this same mission. """"'^

In the following month these four elders began their
westward journey, traveling on foot. Near Buffalo they
stopped to preach to the Catteraugus Indians, by whom they
were received kindly and to some of whom they presented
copies of the Book of Mormon. Thence they proceeded to
Ohio. At Mentor, a small town in the northeastern part of
the State, not far from Kirtland, they found Sidney Rigdon
presiding over a congregation of Disciples. Their reason,
it seems, for going to Mentor was to call on Mr. Rigdon,
who was known to Parley P. Pratt. The pastor entertained
the young missionaries hospitably, but would not indulge in
any argument with them over their new revelation, which he
thought altogether superfluous, seeing that the Bible con-
tains the word of God. He promised, however, carefully to
read the volume presented him, and to permit them to preach
to his congregation, both of which promises were fulfilled.
At the conclusion of a meeting which the elders afterwards
held in Rigdon's chapel, Rigdon advised his flock to consid-
er seriously what they had just heard, in obedience to the in-
junction of the Scriptures to search all things and hold fast
that which is good. Subsequently, after having read the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. li'6

Book of Mormon, he was converted and baptized, as also
were many of his congregation.

At Kirtland, whither the missionaries next went, and
where there was a flourishing branch of Disciples, they were
equally successful. "The people thronged us night and day,"
writes Parley P. Pratt in his Autobiography, "insomuch
that we had no tinie for rest or retirement. Meetings were
convened in different neighborhoods, and multitudes came
together soliciting our attendance; while thousands flocked
about us daily ; some to be taught, some for curiosity, some
to obey the gospel, and some to dispute or resist it." In the
course of the two or three weeks that they remained in the
vicinity, they baptized one hundred and twenty-seven per-
sons, ordained some to the priesthood, and placed them in
charge of the converts. Then they pursued their journey
westward, with TJ'^g'l^firiJiSilSinTii ^^^^^^"'^s. a Kirtland convert,
added to their number.

About fifty miles west of Kirtland they stopped over
night at the home of a Mr. ^''ni"^" ^TtgJ^ "^'^-^^ whom, when
they departed, they left a copy of the Book of Mormon. Mr.
Carter soon devoured the contents of the strange volume,
and believed it with his whole heart. He desired to be bap-
tized, but there being no one in that part of the country wdio
belonged to the Church, he went to Kirtland, where the
ceremony was performed. Returning to his home, after
having been ordained to the priesthood, he taught the gospel
to his neighbors and brought some sixty persons into the
Church.

The missionaries, after leaving Carter's, continued on
towards the West; but we shall postpone our consideration
of the details concerning the rest of their journey until an-
other chapter.

124 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONlSM.

The Removal to Ohio.

In December of this year ( iS^oL. Toseoh ^"i" flltrnr^iry "

meeting of the Saints held at the home of his parents. By
this time they had moved from Manchester, and were Hving
at a place called Waterloo, not far from Fayette. At the
conclusion of the Prophet's discourse, he gave anyone who so
desired, the privilege of speaking. A stranger arose. He
had been, he said, at Manchester, Joseph's former home, to
make inquiries concerning the Smith family, and had found
them to have had a good reputation in the neighborhood un-
til Joseph proclaimed his visions. He added that he had
found everything about the Smith farm in good order, which
indicated care and industry on the part of the owners. These
evidences of good character in the founder of "Mormonism,"
together with what he had previously learned concerning
the revelations to the Prophet, had made an impression on
him, and he wished to be baptized. This stranger was Ed-
ward Partridge, whose home was at Kirtland, Ohio, ana
who, with Sidney Rigdon, had come to New York for the
purpose of meeting the Prophet Joseph. Soon after this, Mr.
Partridge was baptized in Seneca River near by.

While these brethren were staying with him, Joseph re-
ceived a revelation concerning each of them. EUiward Eaxt»
ridge was called to the ministry and told to proclaim the
gospel "with a loud voice." Respecting this man, the
Prophet remarks in his journal that he was "a pattern of
piety, and one of the Lord's great men." Elsewhere he de-
clares that Edward was a man "without guile." Another
revelation (section 35) was given through Joseph_to_^jJjjgy
R^don. "Thou art blessed," said the Lord, "for thou shalt
do great things. Behold thou wast sent forth, even as John,
to prepare the way before me, and before Elijah, which
should come, and thou knewest it not. Thou didst baptize
with water unto repentance, but they received not the Holy

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OE MORMONJSM. 125

Ghost." He was instructed to "tarry" with Joseph and write
for him, Oliver Cowdery being on his journej;Jo the Laman-
ites^and John Whitnier having been sent to take charge of
the Saints at Kirtland ; and was promised that Joseph should
go with him to Ohio when he returned there. It__should be
remarked that at this time the PropJ^etJiad undertaken the
work of revising, by inspiration, the Hebrew Scriptures; and
rr was'TFor the purpose of. writing this that Sidney Rigdon
had been commanded to stay.

The promise contained in the; revelation to Rigdon that
Joseph should accompany him to Ohio, is the first intimation
we have of the westward movement of the CTiurch. Short-
ly after this, a revelation (section 37') was received by the
Prophet in which the Saints in New York were enjoined to
move From" the State. "A comnfandment I give unto the
Church," said the Lord in this revelation, "that it is expedi-
ent in me that they should assemble together at the Qjiio,
against the time that my servant Oliver Cowdery shall re-
turn." Hence from this time on, preparations were making
for the removal. The Prophet was instructed to lay aside
the work of revising the Bible until such time as he might
take it up again in his new home. A conference of the
Church was held. at_IiaY£tte, at which all necessary instruc-
tions were given the Saints, and final arrangements made for
the removal. Hvrum jSmith \yas given charge of the branch
over which Joseph had presided, with the counsel to repair
to Kirtland as soon as he could do so.

In the latter part of the following January, the Prophet.
in company with others, set out for Ohio, his journey having
been hastened by word from John Whitmer that Joseph's
presence at Rirtland was mucITneeHed, on account of some
false spirits that had manifested themselves at the meetings
of the Saints.

"About the fir.st of FeVuarv. 1831," according to one

126 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

account of the Prophet's arrival at his destination, "a sleigh
containing four persons, drove through the streets at Kirt-
land and drew up at the door of Gilbert & Whitney's mer-
cantile establishment. The occupants of the vehicle were
evenly divided as to sex. One of the men, a young and stal-
wart personage, alighted, and springing up the steps, walked
into the store and to where the junior partner was standing.

" 'Ng-Wel K. Whitney ! ThQu art the man !' he exclaimed
extending his hand cordially, as if to an old and familiar
acquaintance.

" 'You have the advantage of me ;' replied the one ad-
dressed, as he mechanically took the proffered hand — a half-
amused, half-mystified look overspreading his countenance —
'I could not call you by name as you have me.'

" 'I am Joseph Smith, the Prophet,' said the stranger smil-
ing, 'You've prayed me here ; now what do you want of me ?'

"Mr. Whitney, astonished but no less delighted, as soon as
his surprise would permit, conducted the party across the
street to his house on the corner, and introduced them to his
wife. She shared fully his surprise and ecstasy."

"My wife and I," declares the Prophet in speaking of
their stay at the Whitney's, "lived in the family of Brother
Whitney several weeks, and received every kindness and at-
tention which could be expected, and especially from Sister
Whitney."

Subsequently, all the branches of the Church in New
York removed to Ohio. Lucy Smith, the Prophet's mother,
relates^ how a coinpany of eighty persons, including herself,
came from the region of Seneca Lake to Kirtland, traveling
mostly by water. At one point on their way, they overtook
two other companies of Saints, going like themselves to their
new home. jOne was the Colesville branch, numbering sixty
souls, the other, under the direction of Elder Thomas B.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 127

Marsh,_comprisin^ thirty. Ij^^was some time in the spring
>yhen these companies reached their destination.

IV by the Church Moved Westzvard.

Various explanations have been offered as to why the Church
moved westward to Ohio. Some anti-"]\Iormon" writers
would have us believe that it was fear, covv^ardice, in the
Prophet that dictated the movement. He feared, it is assert-
ed; that "Mormonism" would be crushed, before it could
get fairly started, amid the civilization of the East, and so he
took it westward where the population was thinner and
where it would be more likely to find toleration. It required
darknessjind ignorance to thrive well ! But those who make
such assertions know nothing of the real character of the
great founder of "Mormonism" or about the true nature of
the Church he established. Few men have exhibited more
courage, physical and moral, than Joseph Smith. He knew
little else, during the brief span allotted him in mortality,
than what concerned situations calling for exceptional cour-
age. And "Mormonism" has always, from the beginning,
challenged investigation and the light. It has never sought
to lurk in dark places ; it has never fostered ignorance. It
was for an entirely different reason, therefore, that "Mor-
monism" forsook the crowded marts of civilization in the
East for freedom and the open country in the West.

Qoubtless, the first thing that turned Joseph's thoughts
"tXLthe,.Dhio country was the success which the Lamanite mis-
sion was having in the neighborhood of Kirtland ; for the
missionaries kept him constantly informed respecting their
labors. In two or three weeks, as we have seen, they had es-
tablished branches of more than one hundred members : and.
doubtless, in the course of a few months, there would be
niare members of the Church there than in New York State.
Then, too, in December came Rigdon and Partridge, who

128 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

must have confirmed in the Prophet, this idea of the future
situation. Added to this was the indication that in the vicin-
ity of Fayette there would be persecution. Indeed a revela-
tion pointed out the dangers from this direction. F[nally, the
word of the Lord was received directing the whole Church
to remove to the Ohio. "A commandment I give unto the
Church, that they should assemble together at the Ohio,
against the time that my servant Oliver Cowdery shall re-
turn. Behold, here is wisdom."

That there was profound wisdom in this command we
can plainly perceive, who live in the days when so much has
been accomplished in the great West, which would have been
impossible under conditions that the Church would have
found in the crowded East. And no doubt there is some
truth in the statement that "Mormonism" could not have de-
veloped its mission in New York State. But "fear" was no
element of the wisdom that dictated the policy. The modern
Church had a system to develop, a mission to fulfill, prob-
lems, temporal and spiritual, to solve. It was not in haste to
avoid civilization, for no matter how far west it came, it en-
deavored constantly to carry as much as possible of that civ-
ilization with it. "Mormonism," in the course of its prog-
ress, has touched the heart of the great questions that con-
front the modern world, questions of government, of society,
of labor and capital, as well as of religion. And though it
has not yet answered them fully in practical life, it has gone
farther toward that end than it could have done under any
conditions which it would have found in the East, and far-
ther, too, than any other organization in the world. "Mor-
monism," as the great spiritual world-power of the future,
expanded in proportion as it came in touch with the high
mountains, the broad plains, and the free atmosphere of the
great West. And the movement to Ohio was but the first
step in this direction.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONTSM. 129

The New Home.

Kirtlan^the new home of the Saints, is situated in one of the
1nvpHp5<_gjv}lKs in all northern QbJffn- It is. pn a branch of the
Chaprrin. "On the shores of the river and its streams He
green levels ; from these, bluffs rise steeply for some two or
three hundred feet to tablelands of great fertility." The
highest of these bluffs was destined to be crowned, five years
later, by the first temple of this dispensation. Twelve or fif-
teen miles to the southwest was what subsequently developed
into the city otXUeveland. Directly north, fifteen miles, was
Paiiisville, and three miles north-west was Willoughby, at
present the nearest railway station. And beyond all these,
toward the north, might be seen, of a sunny day, the broad
expanse of Lake Erie shimmering in the distance. ItLi§3J.„-
I^irdand contained between fifteen hundred and two thou-
sand inhabitants^ though today this number, augmented in
that year by the influx of Saints from New York and other
places, has since dwindled to fewer than two hundred.

Besides Kirtland there were several other towns in the
neighborhood in which we shall be interested as we pursue
our narrative. Only four miles directly north was Mentor,
the home of Sidney Rigdon. Thonrgspn, where the Coles-
ville branch was subsequently to settle in a body, was situat-
ed about eighteen miles in a north-easterly direction. The
town of Hirapi. which at the time was the home of the John-
son family, lay in Portage county, twenty-five or thirty miles
southeast, near the Cuyahoga river. In addition to these, we
hear in this stage of our story, of Orange. Cuyahoga county,
andAmhersj:, Loraine county, where conferences of the
Chirrch were held, one at the former town in October, 183.JL,
and another at the latter place in January, J832.

In this new home "Mormonism" was to find for a time,
fertile soil and a congenial atmosphere, in which it was des-
tined to flourish exceedingly, by reason of a preparatory

9

130 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

work which had been unconsciously performed there by the
new sect of the Disciples.

This^denomination was established bv Alexander Camo-
bell, "a man of extraordinary .talents, and aistmguished lor
his readiness in debate," and ably assisted in this region by
Walter Scott and by SitliKj- Kigden, ''the great orator of the
MahoiiTng Association." Cami bell ha(i..h£en -excluded, in
1827, from the fellowship of the liaptist society on account of
some differences of opinion, and subsequently organized a
church on the basis of principles which he supposed to be
more in harmony with the Holy Scriptures. The organiza-
tion grew very rapidly, especially in the Western Reserve.
One of the doctrines advocated by the new sect was, that the
Scriptures ought to be interpreted literally. In this way the
minds of the people were brought back to the Bible, from
which they had strayed into labyrinths of human dogmas.
Another doctrine was, that immersion was the only correct
form of baptism, that its object was remission of sin, and that
faith and repentance were prerequisites. And these teach-
ings, brought home to the hearts and hearths of the masses
by such talented and popular preachers as _Campbell, Scott,
and Rigdon, furnished a most admirable stepping stone from
the far-away spiritualizings of the generality of Christian
sects to the first and fundamental principles of "Mormon-
ism ;" and it is no marvel that the Church drew such a large
following from the CampbeHite^^eXggBBisStitiCU

It is, therefore, in the light of a forerunner to the great
latter-day work that this and other such religious movements
must be interpreted. Those among the Disciples, comments
Elder B. H. Roberts very appropriately in this connection,
"who have rejected the fulness of the gospel when it was
presented to them, have failed to understand aright the
meaning of the Campbell-Scott-Rigdon reform movement —
they have failed to recognize in that movement merely a

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 131

preparation for the incoming of the fulness of the gospel."
Sidney Rigdon, as we have already seen, was likened to John
the Baptist ; and doubtless the same thing was true of Camp-
bell and others who aided him, only they were unable to see
the fulness of the light when it appeared. But whether or
not the leaders failed to do this, hundreds of their followers
were put in a position by this church to receive the gospel
when it was taught them.

A Temporal Movement.

The arrival oLtlie- New York Saints at Kirtland and vicinity
was the occasion for one of the most important and funda-
mental temporal movements of the Church — the "order of
Enoch," or the "united order," which v/as revealed and es-
tablished at this time.

It was, of course, known to the Saints generally, and to
the Prophet in particular, that this law had been practiced by
the people of God in other times. They had read, no doubt,
that the disciples of Jesus, after the Resurrection, had lived
according to this temporal law; for it is written that "the
multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one
soul, — neither said any of them that ought of the things
which he possessed was his own; but they had all things in
common." Then, too, already the Prophet had brought to
light, in the revision of the Hebrew Scriptures which was
even now in progress, many details concerning the city of
Enoch, in which the united order reached a perfect state.
The city was called Zion because her people were of one
heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there
were no poor among them. In addition to all this, the Saints
had doubtless become familiar with the fact that, accOTdiiig
to_tlie Book of Mormon, the law was in operation among the
ancient Nephites for fully two hundred years. Thirty-six
years after Christ's appearance, "the people were all con-

l.S'-J ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

verted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both
Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no more contentions
and disputations among them, and every man did deal just-
ly one with another ; and they had all things common among
them, therefore they were not rich and poor, bond and free,
but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly
gift."

But it was not the fact that the principle had been ob-
served by the people of the Lord in ancient times, which led
to its adoption in these days, much less was it the circum-
stance that a small branch of the Campbellite church at
Kirtland had endeavored to imitate the practice of the New
Testament Saints, in what was commonly known in the
neighborhood as "the family." The idea came as a revelation
to the Prophet "at the solicitation of Bishop Partridge," who
wished to know the mind of the Lord respecting the import-
ant question, then pressing, as to what should be done for the
temporal welfare of the newly-arrived Saints from New
York State.

The controlling ideas of this "united order" are both
plain and simple. The key note is, Qnsjrian shall not possess
that which is above another in temporal affairs. Everyone,
whether rich or poor, is to "consecrate" to the Church all his
property, real and personal, "with a covenant and a deed
which cannot be broken." This property, in case of apostasy,
does not revert to him, but remains in the possession of ttie
Church. Theneach man receives from__the .^ent^ "stew-
ardship," small or great in proportion to his family, his
needs, and his talent to manage. This, too, is to be given by
covenant and deed, and this he has claim upon in case_he_
should leave the Church. "All children have claim upon
their parents until they are of age. And after that they have
claim upon the Church, or in other words upon the Lord's
storehouse, if their parents have not wherewith to give them

i ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 133

inheritances." Each branch of the Church where this law is
established is independent, in this respect, of every other,
and transacts business in its own name. Whatever accrues
from each stewardship, over and above the amount necessary
for the family's maintenance, goes into the general store-
house, from which any just deficit may be made up. Thus all
men are to have things in common and to deal justly one
with another.

The order was first established amon^ the Saints ^f the
Colesville branch, who were temporarily located at Thomp-
soj^ and the organization made there was to be an "ensam-
ple" to all the other branches. Subsequently, it was estab-
lished a^Kirtland and Zion. when this latter place was made
Iqiovvn to the Saints. But on account of the selfish propen-
sities of man and also because of the distressful conditions
under which it was practiced, the order was dissolved and
another, and les? perfect.law given. This inferior law(sectlQxi
119) was_tithino", which requires one-tenth of one's increase
annually. TFwas introduced in 1838. The higher, law, how-
ever, will eventually be in vogue among the Saints ; for the
Lord has declared that "Zion cannot be built up unless it is
by the law of the celestial kingdom."

"Mormonism" thus recognizes the perpetual strife be-
tween selfishness and greed, apparently so natural in man in
his present state, and the law which requires him to love his
neighbor, even his enemy, as himself. "The love of money,"
the apostle declared more than eighteen centuries ago, "is the
root of all evil," and the saying is as true today as when it
was first uttered. Problems arising out of the inequality of
men in a material way have always challenged the best pow-
ers of the wisest to furnish a proper solution. In no age
have these problems been so terribly emphasized as in our
own. Scheme after scheme has been devised to meet the evil,
from a periodical re-distribution of property to a system of

134 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

community of goods, such as "Mormonism" suggests. But
these have failed, or are failing, on account of the difficulty
of finding a motive common to all. Religion furnishes the
only motive from which men will act in such a society, and
even then that must be more powerful than what we are ac-
customed to see in modern times. Given proper conditions
under which to operate and such a system as we have briefly
outlined above would contribute more than anything known
to men towards rectifying social evils and removing obstacles
in the way of man's spiritual progress.

CHAPTER II.

ZION— ^PAST, PRESENT, AND TO COME.

Kirtland, however, was not the only place to which the Saints
were attached during this second period in the history of the
Church. Zion, in Missouri, shared this affection wjth the
Ohio town. _Indeed, it seems that the larger interest of the
Saints during most of this time lay with the former; for
while our concern in Kirtland has gradually diminished till it
is now kept alive merely by the events which happened there,
our interest in Zion, on the contrary, has proportionately in-
creased, not only because of its greater historical importance,
but also by reason of what is to take place there in the future.

The Lotnanite Missionaries.

After organizing the converts at Kirtland into branches
with presiding officers, the five mi^ioriaries to the Ameri-
can Indians proceeded on their way to the West. Their
journey from now on was even more hazardous than they
had been led to expect. It was in the dead of winter, and the
snow lay heavy on the ground. Their route touched San-_
dusky and Ciiicinnati, in Ohio, and St. Louis a"nd St. Charles,
ig Mis'souri. The last three hundred miles led them over a
wild and desolate prairie, trackless and without habitation,
save for an occasional hunter, and visited frequently by the
keen north wind. They traveled the entire distance on foot,
except for a few days' ride up the Ohio, the mouth of which
they found impassable. For whole days together they made
no fire, and ate nothing but raw bacon and frozen bread.
Frequently they waded through snow waist-deep; they were
wet through by the rains ; nearly always they were cold and

136 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

worn out with the toils of the day. But they trudged hero-
ically on, feeling that they were engaged in the service of
truth. Meanwhile, they had been proclaiming the gospel
wherever opportunity presented, in private and in public. We
have seen that, fifty miles west of Kirtland, their labors re-
sulted in the establishment of a t)ranch numbering si:?^^v
souls. At Sandusky, tlie missionaries had remained several
(lays preaching to the Wyandot Indians ; and at otliei^places
where they had stopped they had had many _. conversations,
which afterwards bore some excellent fruit.

x\rrived at Independence, Jackson c.Qunly, AjissmLri,
their long-sought-for "borders by the Lamanites," two of
their number obtained employment in the town as tailors,
while 01iver_CG>Yilery and Parley P. Pratt crossed the boun-
daries of the State in quest of the Delawares. By the chief
of these Indians — an aged sachem of many tribes — they were
received with kindness, and to him they communicated their
message of peace. After some hesitation he consented to call
a council of his chief men that they might listen to what the
brethren had to say.

Oliver Cowdery addressed the assembled sages. He
told them how, countless moons ago, their forefathers came
from across the mighty waters under the guidance of the
Great Spirit; how, for many generations, they dwelt here,
till through wickedness the white portion were destroyed ;
how. when they were righteous, a great Man came among
them and taught them many wise things, which with their
own history, they wrote down in a book ; how their prophets
and other holy men prayed that this book might come to the
knowledge of their children in the last days ; how the Great
Spirit promised that this desire should be gratified; how,
later, this book was buried in a hill by one of their last
prophets ; how an angel, the same person who had hidden the
1 ook, came to a young boy near the great waters and gave

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 137

him this sacred history, which he wrote down in the language
of the pale face ; and, finally, how these five missionaries had
come many hundred miles, through deep snows, to bring this
book to the Delawares. And thereupon the inspired preach-
er gave them a copy of it with instructions to read it care-
fully and think upon its sayings.

The sachem thanked the men for the interest they had
manifested in him and his tribes, and directed them to a Mr.
Pool for their entertainment while they should stay in the
neighborhood. Treated very kindly by Mr. Pool, they looked
forward to performing much good. But their hopes were
suddenly blighted by religious jealousy and bigotry; for the
Indian agent, incited by sectarian ministers, ordered them to
leave the territory of the Redman on pain of prosecution if
they persisted in preaching their obnoxious doctrines to the
Indians. So the elders took their departure for, Independ-
ence.

Their mission to the Lamanites being thus unexpectedly
terminated, the elders met at Independence for the purpose
of determining upon their next step. "It was now the_24ih-
of February. The cold north wind which had blown for
several weeks, accompanied with very severe weather, had
begun to give place to a milder breeze from the south ; and
the deep snows were fast settling down, with every prospect
of returning spring." At the council it was decided that one
of their number should return to the Church in Ohio,perhaps
to headquarters in New York, in order to communicate with
the President, report their labors, pay visits to the branches
of the Church which they had organized on their westward
journey, and to obtain more books for their further use in
their missionary work. Tl-i£_duty_Qf -making tliis. arduous
tJ2P fell upon Elder Eiatt. Leaving his companions, in the
latter part of this month (February), he made the return
journey, encountering many difficulties, and being delayed

138 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

two or three weeks by sickness. Upon reaching Kirtland, he
discovered, to his surprise, that the branches of the Church
in that vicinity had increased greatly during his absence, and
that, in the meantime, the headquarters of the Church had
been moved thither from New York.

"Thus ended out first Indian mission," wrote Elder
Pratt, "in which we had preached the gospel in its fulness,
and distributed the record of their forefathers among three
tribes, viz., the Catteraugus Indians, near Buffalo, N. Y., the
W.yandQts of Ohio, and the Delawares of Missouri. We trust
that at some future day, whenTtlie servants of God go forth
in power to the remnant of Joseph, some precious seed will
be found growing in their hearts, which was sown by us in
that early day." Viewed from one standpoint, this mission
had signally failed, for scarcely anything, so far as the In-
dians were concerned, ever came from the labors of these
elders. But this would be a hasty conclusion if no other view
of it were taken. The mission had accomplished some very
remarkable results. Like so many other movements in early
Church history, it attained objects which the keenest hu-
man foresight could not at the time have pointed out. If the
expectations of the Saints respecting the Lamanites in their
conversion to the truth, were not realized, this mission might
at least claim the honor of having opened the way for the
westward march of the Church in the work performed at
Kirtland and at Independence, and in bringing several hun-
dreds, and ultimately thousands, of people to a knowedge of
the gospel. So that the Indian mission, after all, was glori-
ously successful, though not exactly in the direction marked
out for it by the Saints.

The City of God.

At this time the significance that attaches to the land of Mis-
souri had not been revealed to the Saints. But the Lamanite

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 139

Mission served to direct attention to that place, and from this
time on their ideas concerning it became clearer till perma-
nent settlements were established there.

From the very beginning of the Church in this dispensa-
tion, it seems, there had been a peculiar charm for the Saints
in the terms "Zion" and "New Jerusalem." To these their
attention was first awakened, doubtless, by the Book of Mor-
mon. For in this sacred volume they read that at some day
future to the time when the book was written, a great and
magnificent city, called the New Jerusalem, should be built
somewhere on this continent, "unto the remnant of the seed
of Joseph" and unto those "whose garments are white in the
blood of the Lamb." And they were confirmed in this idea
by revelations to the Prophet Joseph. As early as Septem-
ber, i820j_the Lord announced that "the citx". should be built
"on the borders by the Lamanites," to which place these
missionaries had been called to labor among the Indian tribes.
From this time till July of the following year, the Saints
were made familiar, through constant repetition, with these
sacred names ; and we may imagine how their interest grew
with each mention. Up to this time, however, it is not likely
that they attached any peculiar importance to Missouri.
About the same time they were informed in a revelation to
Joseph .that the exact loc^ion should be pointed out.

Nor was this anticipation likely to be diminished by the
glowing descriptions which they must have read in the Scrip-
tures, Hebrew and Nephite, of the city, and also of the tem-
ple that was to be built therein. The city should lie four-
square. Its public buildings and private residences should be
magnificent beyond anything else among men. The kings of
the earth were to bring their glory into it, and there should
in no wise enter it anything unclean. The glory of Lebanon
should be brought to her, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the
box together, to beautiful the place of His sanctuary. For

140 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

brass there should be gold ; for iron, silver, for wood, brass ;
and for stones, iron. It should be a land of peace, a city of
refuge, a place of safety. The glory and the terror of the

?Lord should dwell there. The wicked should say : "Let us
not go up against Zion, for her inhabitants are terrible !" The

' redeemed of the Lord should enter her gates with songs of

everlasting joy. Joy and gladness should be found therein,

Y--J thanksgiving and the voice of melody. It should have no

' need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it ; for the
glory of the Lord should light it, and the lamp thereof should
be the Lamb. And the nations should walk in the midst of
her light forevermore. The temple, too, should be worthy
of such a place. Standing in the centre of the
city, it should focus all this glory and splendor.
Only skilled workmen, inspired of heaven, should
lay their hands upon it; its ornaments should be
of gold, silver, and the most precious stones ; its summit
should be crowned by day with a cloud and by night with a
pillar of fire. The whole scene was to be one of ineffable
grandeur and divine magnificence, not to be conceived by the
iminspired mind. No wonder the Saints were thrown into
transports of joy in the mere contemplation.

It was early injmie, 1831, after a conference at Kirt-
land that Joseph received a revelation appointing the next
conference in Missouri. There, said the Lord, you shall
learn about "the land of your inheritance." Twe^t;y-eight
missionaries (section 53) were called to preach to the people
west of Ohio, "baptizing by water, and laying on hands by
the water's side." They were all to meet in Missouri. Soon
after this, the missionaries set out on their journey, Jocepk..-.^
Smith, SjdneyRigdon, Martin Harris, Edward Partridge,
Joseph Coe, and A. S. Gilbert and wife going together via
Cincinnati and St. Louis, the others traveling two by two
preaching by the way. They arrived at Independence about

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 141

the middle of July. The Prophet has recorded the joyful
meeting, not only with those who had arrived severally from
Kirtland, but also, and especially, with those who formed the
Lamanite mission and who, except Elder Pratt, had remained
in Missouri ever since their arrival early in the year. In a
short time afterwards the Coles ville. branch, which had been
temporarily located at TljQmpson,. Ohio, arrived at Kaw
taW-nsilifi^ twelve miles west of Independence. The number
of Saints now at Missouri, therefore, was between ninety and
a hundred.

Not long after the arrival of the brethren at Independ-
^nce, the Prophet received-a revelation (section 57) in which
the location of Zion was made known. Missouri was desig-
nated as the land which the Lord had consecrated as the
gathering point of the Saints in the last days. "This is the
land of promise," declared the revelation, "and the place for
the city of Zion. Independence is the centre, and the spot for
the temple is lying westward, upon a lot which is not far
from the court house." The revelation goes on to give in-
structions concerning the manner of settling Zion. The land
should be purchased "even unto the line running directly be-
tween Jew and Gentile." The law of_consecration, thereto-
fore revealed, was to be in vogue. Sidney Gilbert was ap-
^inted "to receive moneys, to be an agent unto the Church,
to buy land in all the regions round about," to the extent of
the people's ability, and as wisdom should direct. Edward
Partridge was to "divide unto the Saints their inheritance."
A storehouse was to be kept, where goods might be sold
"without fraud," the profits of which were to be used in buy-
ing land. ,,EiiiaUy, a printing office was to be established,
with William W. Phelps and Oliver Cowdery in charge.

142 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Zion as it was and will be.

The land which these brethren looked upon and which was
destined to occupy so much attention on the part of the
Saints, was very remarkable in many ways.

It was at the time a new country, only recently released
from Indian ownership, situated on the frontiers of the
Union, "a promontory of civilization into an ocean of savag-
ery." The western parts of the State were sparsely inhabited ;
Jackson county, in 1830, had a population of only a trifle
more than twenty-eisdit hundred as compared with something
less than two hundred thousand in 1900. "The white settler's
house was a log hut, generally with a dirt floor, a mud plas-
tered chimney, and a window without glass, a board or quilt
serving to close it in time of storm or severe cold. A fire-
place, with a skillet and kettle, supplied the place of a well-
equipped stove. Corn was the principal grain food, and wild
game supplied most of the meat. The wild animals furnished
clothing as well as food; for the pioneers could not afford
to pay from 15 to 25 cents a yard for calico, and from 25 to
75 cents for gingham. Some persons indulged in homespun
cloth for Sunday and festal occasions, but the common out-
side garments were made of dressed deerskins. Parley P.
Pratt, in his autobiography, speaks of passing through a set-
tlement where some families were entirely dressed in skins,
without any other clothing, including ladies young and old."

Jackson county is centrally located with respect both to
the United States and to the American continent. It was de-
scribed at the time as an extensive and beautiful rolling
prairie, spreading out like a billowy sea of meadows, and
decorated with flowers of every hue and variety. It was di-
vided, here and there, by streams of water, fringed with
strips of timber from one to three miles in width, and com-
prising oak, hickory, black walnut, elm, ash, cherry, honey
locust, mulberry, coflfee bean, hack-berry, box-elder, cotton-'

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 14-3

Wood, butterwood, pecan, hard and soft maple. The soil,
which is from three to ten feet deep and of a rich black
mould, is exceedingly fertile, and produces in abundance not
only wheat, corn, and many other hardy products, but also
several varieties of fruit and vegetables requiring a warmer
climate, such as tobacco, flax, sweet potatoes, peaches, and
grapes. Wild game — buffalo, elk, deer, bear, wolves, beaver,
and many varieties of fowl — abounded at the time in the un-
inhabited parts. The-eiimate,. as may be inferred froni this,
is mild and delightful, during three-fourths of the year.

In June, i8^^|, to anticipate our narrative a period of
nearly two years, the Prophet sent the presiding officers in
Missouri "an explanation of the plot of the city of Zion."
The following description, based, of course, on this explan-
ation, is taken from Elder B. H. Roberts's excellent account
in his Missouri Persecutions, with which, however, I have
taken some liberties. The city plat is one mile square, di-
vided into blocks containing ten acres each, except the mid-
dle range of blocks running north and south, which will con-
tain fifteen acres. The streets will be eight rods wide, inter-
secting each other at right angles. A tier of blocks of forty
by sixty rods will be reserved for public buildings, temples,
tabernacles, school houses, etc. All the other blocks will be
divided into half-acre lots, with a four-rod front to every
lot, and extending back twenty rods. In one block the lots
will run north and south, and in the next one east and west,
and so on alternately throughout the city, except in the range
of blocks reserved for public buildings. By this arrange-
ment no street will be built on entirely through the city, but
on one block the houses will stand on one street, and on the
next one on another street. All of the houses are to be built
of brick or stone; and but one house on a lot, which is to
stand twenty-five feet back from the street, the space in front
being for lawns, ornamental trees, shrubbery, and flowers

144 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISlvi.

according to the taste of the owners ; the rest of the lot will
be for gardens, etc. It is supposed that such a plat when
built up will contain fifteen or twenty thousand inhabitants,
and that they will require twenty-four buildings to supply
them with houses for public worship and schools. These
buildings will be temples, none of which will be less than
eighty-seven feet by sixty-one, and two stories high, each
story to be fourteen feet, making the building twenty-eight
feet to the square. Lands on the north and south of the city
will be laid off for barns and stables for the use of the city ;
so there will be no barns or stables in the city among the
homes of the people. Lands for the agriculturist are also to
be laid off on the north and south of the city, but if sufficient
land cannot be laid off without going too great a distance,
then farms are to be laid off on the east and west also ; but
the tiller of the soil as well as the merchant and mechanic will
live in the city. The farmer and his family, therefore, will
enjoy all the advantages of schools, public lectures, and other
meetings. His home will no longer be isolated, and his fam-
ily denied the benefits of society, which has been, and always
will be, the great educator of the human race ; but they will
enjoy the same privileges of societv. and can surround their
homes with as much refinement as will be found in the home
of the merchant or the banker.

"When this square is thus laid off and supplied," said
the Prophet, "lay off another in the same way, and so fill up
the world in these last days ; and let every man live in the
citv, for this is the city of Zion." ,■ 0

\

Zion Dedicated and Settled. ■

"On the second day of August," says the Prophet tiThis jour
nal, "I assisted the CoTesville branch of the Church to lay the
first log,'~as"a foundation of Zion." The log was placed by
twelve men "in honor of the twelve tribes of Israel." At the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 145

same time, the land_of Zion was dedicated by Sidney Rigdon.
Elder Rigdon stood up and asked those present at the cere-
monies—

"Do you receive this land for the land of your inher-
itance, with thankful hearts, from the Lord?"

"We do," was the answer from all.

"Do you pledge yourselves to keep the law of God on
this land, which you never have kept in your own land?"

"We do." ' •

"Do you pledge yoursleves to see that others of your
brethren who shall come hither do keep the laws of God ?"

"We do."

After prayer he arose and said, "I now pronounce this
land consecrated and dedicated unto the Lord for a posses-
sion and inheritance for the Saints, and for all the faithful
servants of the Lord to the remotest ages of time, in the
name of Jesus Christ, having authority from Him. Amen."

On the following day the temple site was dedicated by
Joseph himself, in the presence of a number of the brethren
who had come with him. The 87th Psalm was read, the en-
tire ceremony being very impressive. The next day the first
conference in the land of Zion convened at the house of
Joshua Lewis, in Kaw township, where the Colesville Saints
had settled. A few days after this the Prophet received two
revelations (sections 59 and 60), in the former of which some
fundamental laws were given for the government of the
Saints, and in the latter some of the brethren were told to re-
main in Zion and others to return to their homes. On
August 9th the Prophet and others started for Kirtland, ar-
riving there on the twenty-seventh.

From the summer of 183 1 to that of 1833, the Saints
continued to gather to Zion, till by this latter date there were
about tw^elve hundred in Jackson county. There were settle-
ments at Independence, at Kaw township, and on the Pjig
10

146 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Blue, besides others whose exact location is not certain. The
first settlers, having come there so late in the year, were un-
able to put in crops, and in consequence they suffered more
or less hardship during the succeeding winter and spring.
But after that they got along much better, because, being in-
dustrious, they planted crops and reaped a good harvest.
Meantime, they bought land, built houses, and improved their
surroundings till there appeared evidences of prosperity on
every hand. A printing press was established, and a Church
publication begun, The Evening and Morning Star, and a
school for the elders organized under the direction of Parley
P. Pratt. "They lived in peace and quiet ; no law suits with
each other or with the world; few or no debts were con-
tracted ; few promises broken ; there were no thieves,robbers,
or murderers ; few or no idlers ; all seemed to worship God
with a ready heart. On Sundays the people assembled to
preach, pray, sing, and receive the ordinances of God. Other
days all seemed busy in the various pursuits of industry. In
short, there has seldom, if ever, been a happier people upon
the earth than the Church of the Saints were," in 1833.

The Saints and their New Neighbors.

In view of the difficulties which arose later between the
Saints and the old settlers, and which we shall speak of in
another chapter, it is important that we obtain a correct esti-
mate of the characters of these two classes. And this is the
more necessary because of the efforts on the part of so many
non-"Mormon" writers on the subject to have their readers
believe that the Saints in these troubles were always the of-
fenders, and that the rest of the population were only acting
in self-defense when they expelled the "Mormons" from the
county. Anyone who will impartially consider the elements
of difference between the Jackson cOunty people and the
"^Mormons" will be forced to admit that something like the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 147

conflict which subsequently took place was inevitable; and
the actual facts in the quarrel will show that the first inhab-
itants were not acting on the defensive, either.

First of all, there was a difference in their habits, mode
of life, and customs generally. The Missourians were most-
ly from the Southern States, while the Saints came, for the
most part, from New England and the North. Hence, the
former believed in, and to the extent of their power, prac-
ticed slavery; the latter very naturally entertained different
notions rspecting the principle, though they had not ex-
pressed their views on the subject. This fact meant also that
while the old residents of Missouri were accustomed largely
to have their work done by slaves, the "Mormons" were in
the habit of doing their work themselves ; and this difference
would have the natural effect of establishing thrift and in-
dustry in the latter, whereas in the former indolent habits,
sometimes downright laziness, would receive encourageme^^'"
Whatever may be said of the poverty of the Sai^^
souri at this time, they were certainly as -
trious than the majority of the ^'
there. The Prophet decl
son county possessed a "le.
were "a. century behind th
marks, between the East and .
great. Colonel Thomas L. Kau
border inhabitants of Western M
scum which our own society, like
upon its frontiers ;" and expresses th*.
reaching the "Mormon" camps, then
their way to Salt Lake Valley, and "a.
persons who were almost all of Eastern
persons of refined habits and decent Ian.
settlers lived mostly along the water coUi
imagined that the prairie was unfit for cultivation.

148 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Though there were thrifty, intelligent, and religious men and
women in this part of Missouri, it is nevertheless an undeni-
able fact that no small portion of the population was made up
of the lazy, the ignorant, the irreligious, and the criminal.
The State being the extreme western limits of the United
States, much of the criminal element escaped thither from
the East, in the hope of evading the law by coming to Mis-
souri, where, at a moment's warning, they might escape
across the boundaries beyond the reach of pursuing officials.
Then, there were negroes who had run away from their mas-
ters, bankrupt politicians, not only in purse but also in char-
acter, and sectarian missionaries of various denominations
seeking to instill their peculiar tenets into the Indian and the
pioneer mind. It may seem strange at first that the last class
should be counted as one of the inharmonious and disturbing
elements in this motly community; but wherever any diffi-
culties occur between "Mormons" and non-"Mormons" it
will usually be found that narrow-minded sectarian preach-
ers are at the bottom of them.

The Saints, on the contrary, were very similar to one

another in character. They came from pretty much the same

locality ; they had much in common, not only in a spiritual,

but in a material way. No doubt some of them were ignor-

^ , ant, and most of them were doubtless very poor; but there

? (V "C <Sf '^ were in the "Mormon" settlements persons of ability and

r^ ^ <Li i" learning. They were industrious, moreover, and had none of

IT ^ . <? ^thg criminal element among them. That they were a com-

§^ ^ (? C ^iiSty of workers is evident from the difiference that soon

' ^^ ^ c? o ^iaiBl£|feted itself between the appearance of their settlements,

Jj'"' '5' -S" ^ ^o&ogiit^a^few months' standing, and that of neighboring

^ /^ ^ ^ "^ tQw^s,_^vfeich had been years in the building. And their

^ '^ ^ . f~, i- •* (-. pflfgi^^jgi-s against the law is evident not only

when trouble broke out between them and
^' ^-^ ^ 5? the J2ti^ourians the latter admitted that the law could not be

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 149

applied to the "Mormons," but also from the fact that not a
single "Mormon" had been arrested or punished for violation
of the law. Such were the differences between the Latter-
day Saints and the older settlers in Missouri so far as
their general character and modes of living were concerned.

But there were two other differences, one growing out of
politics, and the other out of religion. It was soon found
that the Saints kept pretty much to themselves, that they laid
aside their work on the Sabbath and went to meeting, and
that at election they voted more or less together. This lat-
ter fact gave rise to all kinds of apprehension on the part of
the Missourians in Jackson county, lest if the "Mormon"
population continued to increase, they would in time either
control political affairs or make it necessary for the old set-
tlers to move elsewhere. The first alternative was made the
more disquieting from the numerous peculiarities of the re-
ligion professed by the new comers. They believed, for in-
stance, in continued revelation, in visions, in miracles, and,
worst of all, they contended that they were the elect and that
the other churches were wrong.

All these differences between these two elements in
Jackson county made it inevitable that some day there would
be an open rupture between them.

oS.

CHAPTER III.

AS THE STARS DIFFER.

It is a curious fact in the history of the Church that the
Prophet Joseph nearly all his life was engaged in some in-
spired literary undertaking. From 1827 to 1829, he was at
work on the translation of the Book of Mormon. As soon as
that duty was performed and the book published to the world,
he entered upon the task of revising the Hebrew Scriptures,
which occupied his attention till the year 1833. Finally, in
1837, there fell into his hands some rolls of Egyptian papy-
rus the translation of which filled up his spare moments for
a number of years. All this labor of revision and transla-
tion, however, even that of the Nephite Scriptures, was more
incidental in its character than we have been accustomed to
believe, — incidental, that is, to the enunciation of the great
truths which it was instrumental in bringing to light.

Plain and Precious Things.

Probably the occasion for the inspired revision of the Bible
arose out of some passages in the Book of Mormon in refer-
ence to the book that "proceeded forth from the mouth of a
Jew." Speaking of the time when the "great and abominable
church," held sway over the human mind, the Nephite rec-
ord declares that this church had "taken away from the gos-
pel of the Lamb, many parts which are plain and most prec-
ious; and also many covenants," and that this was done in
order to "pervert the right ways of the Lord," by blincitng
men's eyes and hardening their hearts. In consequence of
this tampering with the word of God, "an exceeding great
many do stumble, insomuch that Satan hath great power over
them." But this work of revising the Bible was also in har-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 151

mony with the great mission imposed upon the Prophet Jo-
seph, and was part, though perhaps a comparatively insig-
nificant part of his work as Restorer.

Why did the Prophet undertake this revision ? Two rea-
sons might be given.

In the first place errors have crept into the text of the
Scriptures through the numerous copies and translations that
have been made from the first. The Old Testament was
originally written in Hebrew ; and the New in Greek. These
writings were all, of course, in manuscript form,
written by the hand ; and when copies were needed
each "had to be written out, letter by letter, at
great expense of time and trouble, and unfortunately
very often at some expense of the original correctness." In
speaking of the probability of such errors in these transcrip-
tions, J. Patterson Smyth, an English scholar, remarks :
"However careful the scribe might be, it was almost impos-
sible in copying a long and difficult manuscript to prevent the
occurrence of errors. Sometimes he would mistake one letter
for another, sometimes, if having the manuscript read to him,
he would confound two words of similar sound; sometimes,
after writing in the last word of a line, on looking up again
his eye would catch the same word at the end of the next line,
and he would go on from that, omitting the whole line be-
tween. Remarks and explanations, too, written, in the mar-
gin might sometimes in transcribing get inserted in the text.
In these and various other ways errors might creep into the
copy of his manuscript. These errors would be repeated by
the man that afterward copied from this, who would also
sometimes add other errors of his own. So that it is evident,
as copies increased, the errors would be likely to increase
with them." That this danger was always imminent is evi-
dent from what Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, in the second
century, wrote in one of his books. "I charge thee," he de-

152 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

clares to whosoever might copy his work, "with an oath by
our Lord Jesus Christ that thou carefully compare what thou
has transcribed, and correct it according to this copy,
whence thou hast transcribed it, and thou transcribe this
oath in like manner, and place it in thy copy." No doubt
great pains were taken to make correct transcriptions, espec-
ially with the Holy Scriptures. So scrupulous, for example,
were the Jewish scribes with their transcriptions, of the Old
Testament manuscripts, "that even if a manifest error were
in the copy they transcribed from, they would not meddle
with it in the text, but would write in the margin what the
true reading should be ; if they found one letter larger than
another, or a word running beyond the line, or any other
mere irregularity, they would copy it exactly as it stood.
Such exactness of course, very much lessened the danger of
erroneous copying, and makes our Hebrew Scriptures far
more trustworthy than they could otherwise be." But with
all the care that could be taken in the matter, and this un-
forunately was not so conspicuous in the copyists of the New
Testament manuscripts, errors were bound to creep into the
text. Many of these, no doubt, were corrected by the mod-
ern translators, who had access to some ancient manuscripts
(though not the original ones by many removes), various
versions, and "the fathers." Still, with all this, it must be
confessed that our English Bible is far from perfect in this
respect.

But the Book of Mormon prefers a charge even more
serious than carelessness on the part of copyists ; and this is
another reason why Joseph should undertake the revision.
It declares, as we have seen, that during the time the Bible
was solely in the hands of "the great and abominable
church," it underwent changes on account, not merely of un-
conscious mistakes, but of wickedness and corruption in the
church. Any one who is at all acquainted with ecclesiastical

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 153

history must concede that conditions were extremely favor-
able to the perpetration of this class of fraud. The general
mass of men were unable to read ; and if they had been, there
were not enough copies of the Scriptures to allow of much
general information regarding their contents. The Bible,
therefore, being in the hands of the clergy, it was a simple
matter for them to insert renderings wholly at variance with
the spirit of the gospel, or to leave out passages unfavorable
to claims that grew up in the church. And that the clergy
were capable of such wickedness is evident from what they
did do. There came a time in the long course of usurpation of
temporal power on the part of the popes when it would have
been a glorious triumph for the church if, in the matter of
this temporal power as in that of general law in the Christian
religion, she could refer to a series of decrees by earlier
popes, thus carrying the authority of the holy see back to its
very origin. "That such decrees unfortunately did not ex-
ist," says Emerton in his Mediaeval Europe, "was a slight
obstacle." And so the much needed decretals were actually
forged, most probably "in France, by some person or group
of persons interested in raising to the very highest point the
authority of the bishops over the laity." Such was, presented
in its most charitable light, the origin of the "Forged De-
cretals," "the most stupendous of the many forgeries by
which the Roman church has built up its immense power
over the lives of men." In view of a fraud like this, who can
doubt that such a thing as the Book of Mormon charges
against the medieval church might have occurred ?

With these two influences at work, carelessness and de-
liberate wickedness, it was perfectly natural for errors to get
into the text of the Holy Scripture. The proof, it seems,
that there are such errors is supplied by the fact "that an
exceeding great many do stumble," and is further corrobor-
ated by the numerous italicisms on every page of the Bible,

154 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

which indicate words not in the original Hebrew or Greek
texts.

In speaking thus of the way in which the word of God
to the ancients has been handed down to us, we would not be
understood as disparaging that word. The Saints regard the
Bible as a true and sacred record, and though not intended by
the Lord for man's only guide of faith, is exceedingly valu-
able as containing the truths by which mankind will ulti-
mately be judged. But there is really nothing gained in the
long run by attempting to cover up imperfections in the Bible
due to uninspired men. In the hands of an inspired prophet
of God, however, the original renderings of passages might
easily be restored, for which purpose Joseph undertook the
revision.

The Inspired Revision.

The work which the Prophet accomplished in revising the
Scriptures, is often called a translation ; but it was not really
a translation, inasmuch as he made no pretentions to an ac-
quaintance with Hebrew and Greek sufficiently to enable him
to make a translation. All he did was to revise, under in-
spiration of the Lord, the various books of the English Bible.
In what manner this revision was accomplished does not ap-
pear. It was begun in 1830, soon after the completion of the
Book of Mormon. Writing in December of this year, the
Prophet speaks of the "extended information," which the
Saints were receiving, "upon the Scriptures, a translation of
which had already commenced." In this same month, we
learn that Sidney Rigdon, was instructed in a revelation
(Section 35) given him through the Prophet, on the occa-
sion of his visit to Fayette, to write for Joseph, "and the
Scriptures shall be given, even as they are in mine own
bosom, to the salvation of mine own elect." Soon after this,
however, the matter was laid aside until after the removal of

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 155

the Church to Ohio occurred, when it was taken up again and
continued till it was again laid aside in 1833, the Prophet
having gone through the entire volume of Scripture, both the
Old and the New Testament. According to President
George Q. Cannon, the Prophet, before his death, had in-
tended to go through the translation of the Scriptures again
for the purpose of perfecting it upon points of doctrine
which the Lord had restrained him from giving in plainness
and fulness at the time when he first went over the work.
No authorized edition of this revised Bible has ever ap-
peared, though an edition has been published by the Reor-
ganized church. Doubtless if the Prophet had lived to com-
plete the work, it would have been made public with his sanc-
tion. Such are the facts connected with the work of revision
itself. And so to the differences between this and the com-
mon English version.

These may, for clearness, be grouped under three gen-
eral classes : first, mere corrections ; second, supplied words
and phrases, to make the text clearer; and, third, supplied
passages, which give a larger meaning and greater fulness to
narratives and expositions that are obscure in our King
James Translation. \ Taking up these in their order, we shall
place, where we can, passages from both the authorized ver-
sion and the inspired revision in parallel columns, writing in
italics the essential changes and additions.

156

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

King James Trmvslation.

Therefore leaving the prin-
ciples of the doctrine of
Christ, let us go on unto per-
fection; not laying again the
foundation of repentance
from dead works, and of faith
toward God, of the doctrines
of baptisms, and of laying on
of hands, and of resurrection
of the dead, and of eternal
judgment. — Heb. 6: i, 2.

"And when the Gentiles
heard this, they were glad
and glorified the word of the
Lord ; and as many as were
ordained to eternal life be-
lieved.— Acts: 13: 48.

"Blessed are the poor in
spirit; for theirs is the king-
dom of heaven," — Matt. 5 : 3.

"Marvel not at this; for
the hour is coming in the
which all that are in the
graves shall hear his voice,
and shall come forth ; they
that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life; and they
that have done evil unto the
resurrection of damnation."
—John, 5 : 28, 29.

Inspired Revision.

Therefore not leaving the
principles of the doctrine of
Christ, let us go unto perfec-
tion ; not laying again the
foundation of repentance
from dead works, and of faith
toward God, of the doctrine
of baptisms, of laying on of
hands, and of the resurrec-
tion of the dead, and of eter-
nal judgment. — Heb. 6: i, 2.

"And when the Gentiles
heard this, they were glad,
and glorified the word of the
Lord ; and as many as be-
lieved were ordained unto
eternal life." — Acts: 13: 48.

"Blessed are the poor in
spirit who come unto me; for
theirs is the kingdom of heav-
en."— Matt. 5 : 3.

"Marvel not at this, for the
hour is coming, in the which
all who are in their graves
shall hear his voice, and shall
come forth ; they who have
done good, in the resurrection
of the just, and they who
have done evil, in the resur-
rection of the unjust. — John
5 : 28, 29.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

167

King James' Translation.

"These are the generations
of the heavens and of the
earth, when they were creat-
ed, in the day that the Lord
God made the earth, and the
heavens, and every plant of
the field before it was in the
earth, and every herb of the
field before it g'rew ; for the
Lord God had not caused it
to rain upon the earth, and
there was not a man to till the
ground. But there went up
a mist from the earth, and
watered the whole face of the
ground." — Gen. 2 : 4, 6.

Inspired Revision.

"And !w:v behold I say un-
to you that these are the gen-
erations of the heaven, and of
the earth, when they were
created in the day that 1 the
Lord God, made the heaven
and the earth, and every plant
of the field before it was in
the earth, and every herb of
the field before it grew ; for
I, the Lord God, created all
things of which I have spok-
en, spiritually before they
ivere naturally upon the face
of the earth; for I the Lord
God, had not caused it to rain
upon the face of the earth.
And I, the Lord God, had
created all the children of
men, and not yet a man to till
the ground, for in heaven cre-
ated I them, and there was
not yet flesh upon the earth,
neither in the water, neither
in the air; hut I, the Lord
God, spoke, and there went
up a mist from the earth, and
watered the whole face of the
ground." — Gen. 2: 4, 7.

158 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

But the most valuable parts of this last class of altera-
tions in the inspired revision are those which are wholly
new, but which are too extensive to be inserted here. One
of these is what may be called an introduction to the Bible,
in which the Lord gives Joseph the Prophet, "the words
which He spake unto Moses at the time when Moses was
caught up into an exceeding high mountain, and saw God
face to face, and talked with him, as the glory of God was
upon him." It tells of the struggle that occurred between
Satan and the great Jewish law-giver, concerning which we
have merely an allusion in the King James version. It in-
forms us, too, in what manner Moses obtained the material
for his history of the creation, which was direct from the
Lord. Another important passage of considerable length
gives a great many details in which Enoch figured con-
spicuously. This prophecy of Enoch tells of the preaching
of the gospel by Adam, of the wickedness that prevailed
over the face of the land, of the labors of Enoch to bring
men to repentance, of his success, and of the final transla-
tion of this prophet and all the righteous whom he had col-
lected into a city. But the reader who wishes to appreciate
these longer passages should not be content till he has read
them for himself.

In this brief discussion of this part of our study, it will,
we trust, be clear that for an inspired revision of the Bible
there was a serious need, that such a labor was part of the
mission of the modern prophet, and that he did a good ser-
vice to the Saints* in the work he thus performed.

Visions and Revelations.

At the beginning of this chapter we called attention to the
rather strange fact that Joseph, during the greater part of
his active life, was engaged in some divinely appointed liter-
ary work. It is an even more curious fact in Church history

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 159

that SO many of the earlier revelations to the Prophet were
apparently accidental, by which we mean that they grew
naturally out of the facts and conditions in which Joseph and
the Saints found themselves, and that, also, they came, for
the most part, in answer to a manifest need in the Church
for them. Circumstances in the life of the Prophet and in
the lives, too, of his companions in the work, suggested the
need of further light upon particular points, and this light,
so far as we know, was always vouchsafed them. Instances
of this will occur to any one familiar with our history. The
first vision came to Joseph in answer to his prayer in which
he asked the very important question, which of all the
churches by which he was surrounded was the true one.
Those magnificent revelations connected with the Book of
Mormon were received in answer to a desire and prayer
that the young Joseph might know his standing with the
Lord. The Lamanite mission, with all that followed as a
result of it, came as a reply to a general anxiety on the part
of some elders, and a question on the part of the Prophet,
concerning the fate of the Indians. And so we might give
many other instances. It is very much the same with the
revelations and visions we are now to relate. They came as
an outgrowth of reflection upon passages in the Bible which
Joseph and Sidney were revising. And if this revision had
accomplished no other result than being the occasion of the
vision concerning the degrees of glory in the next world, it
would have amply repaid this generation for all the time and
labor expended upon it by these two men.

We have already spoken of the writings of Moses which
were restored to their place in the Hebrew Scriptures
through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
during the progress of the revision. Others of a similar
character were given subsequently. The fourteenth verse
of the seventh chapter of First Corinthians, — "For the un-

160 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

believing husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbe-
lieving wife is sanctified by the husband, else were your
children unclean, but now are they holy" — was explained in
a revelation, (section 74) to the Prophet. In the same way
many passages in the Revelation of St. John were explained
to the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon. Reference to section 'j'],
of the "Doctrine and Covenants" will make it clear that this
modern Restorer has reflected no inconsiderable light upon
this profoundly obscure book, a book which no theologian in
Christendom lays any claim to understanding.

But the most important of the revelations connected
with the revision of the Scriptures, is the one called "The
Vision," and found in section seventy-six of the Doctrine
and Covenants. The occasion for this revelation was a
difficulty which the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon had ex-
perienced in understanding the twenty-ninth verse of the
fifth chapter of John, which speaks of the resurrection of
the dead, and which we have already quoted. "Now this
caused us to marvel," declares the Prophet, "for it was
given unto us of the spirit. And while we meditated upon
these things the Lord touched the eyes of our understand-
ings and they were opened, and the glory of the Lord shone
round about; and we beheld the glory of the Son, on the
right hand of the Father, and received of his fulness ; and
saw the holy angels, and them who are sanctified before his
throne, worshiping God and the Lamb for ever and ever.

Apostates and Mohocrats.

All these things occurred at Hiram, Portage county, a town
about thirty miles south-east of Kirtland. Joseph had
moved there for the purpose, it seems, of continuing the re-
vision of the Scriptures, and was living with the family of
John Johnson, a member of the Church. Emma was with

Okfi HUNbREb YEARS Ot MORMONISM. iCl

tlie Prophet, and Sidney Rio-don and his family were occupy-
ing- a house in the same town.

Hiram was the home also of Ezra Booth, and Simonds
Ryder, both of whom had been somewhat noted preachers,
the former in the Methodist Church, the latter in the Camp-
bellite organization. Booth had been converted by seeing a
miracle performed. Mrs. Johnson, it appears, had been af-
flicted for some time with a lame arm, and while she and
her husband and Mr. and Mrs. Booth, were on a visit to the
Prophet, then at Kirtland, the latter at tlieir request had ad-
ministered to her arm, upon which it was immediately
healed. Booth thereupon joined the Church. Subsequently,
he went to Zion with the group of Elders who were called
to go there; but he soon became disaffected and left the
Church. The Prophet says that when Booth learned that
"faith, humility, patience, and tribulation go before bless-
ing," when he found out that the Savior would not grant
him power, "to smite men and make them believe," as he
had desired, he became disappointed. Shortly afterwards,
he published in the Ohio Star a series of nine articles, in
which he endeavored to cast odium upon the cause he had
forsaken.

The conversion and the apostasy of Simonds Ryder are
equally interesting as throwing light upon his character.
Like Booth, Ryder was converted by a supernatural mani-
festation, though in his case it was a prophecy. An earth-
quake took place in Pekin, China, which Ryder had heard
predicted by a young "Mormon" girl six weeks previously.
As he had been for some time considering whether or not to
join the Church, this proved "the final weight in the bal-
ance," and he threw his influence upon the side of "Mormon-
ism," which caused an excitement almost equal to that which
followed the conversion of Rigdon. He was ordained an

elder,but in the letter which notified him of the fact that it
11

i62 OMK HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

was the will of the Lord that he should preach the gospel,
as well as in his commission to preach, his name was spelled
R-i-d-e-r instead of R-y-d-e-r. This led him to doubt
whether the Lord had had anything to do with his call,
since if the "Spirit through which he had been called to
preach could err in the matter of spelling his name, it might
have erred in calling him to the ministry as well." So a
misplaced letter proved his undoing spiritually, and he left
the Church. He seems to have been as bitter against his
former friends, as his companion preacher, Ezra Booth. In
addition, three of the Johnson boys, Eli, Edward, and John,
Jr., had also left the Church.

The significance that attaches to the apostasy of Booth
and Ryder at this time, is, that they led a strong opposition
against the P^rophet which resulted in the customary mob
violence. This disturbance occurred in the latter part of
March, 1832. On the night of the 24th, when Joseph, ex-
hausted by long watching at the bedside of two sick chil-
dren— the Murdock twins, which Emma had adopted in
place of her own, which had died, — had thrown himself up-
on the bed and fallen asleep. Emma, who had retired, was
awakened by a tapping at the window, which, however, she
took no particular notice of at the time. But it was only a
few moments till about a dozen men broke into the room,
roughly took up the sleeping form of Joseph, and dragged
him out amid the screams of his wife, and his own strug-
gles to free himself from their grasp. About thirty rods
from the house they came upon another band of men with
Sidney Rigdon, who had been dragged by the feet, his head
beating against the rough, frozen ground. Leaving Rigdon,
unconscious, the united mob, increasing in number every
minute, went about thirty rods more, where they held a con-
sultation to determine what should be done with the Prophet.
While the majority were thus engaged, a number of others

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMON ISM. 103

held Joseph, being careful to keep him from touching the
ground, lest he should spring away from them. The result
of the deliberation, was that he should be stripped of his
clothes, and then covered with tar and feathers. With
threats, horrible imprecations, and blasphemy, they perpe-
trated this outrage on the Prophet's person, forcing the tar-
paddle into his mouth, and breaking a vial of liquid against
his teeth. They then left him. After several attempts to
rise, he finally succeeded, wiped away the tar from his lips
so that he might breathe more freely, and made his way to-
V. ards a light, which he found issued from his own window.
Calling for a blanket, he entered the house, where a number
of the sisters in the neighborhood, hearing of the trouble, had
collected. He spent the rest of the night m removing the
tar, and cleansing his body. The next day being Sunday,
he preached at the usual meeting of the Saints, at which sev-
eral of the mobbers were in attendance, but he made no al-
lusion to the preceding night. For several days after this
barbarous treatment, Sidney Rigdon was delirious.

In the mob, besides Ryder and probably Booth, were
"one ]\IcClintic," whom Joseph recognized; a man by the
name of Waste, "the strongest man in the Western Re-
serve ;" Streeter,a son of aCampbellite preacher ; "Felatiah
Allen, who gave the mob a barrel of whisky to raise their
spirits ;" and many others of various religious parties, but
mostly Campbellites, Methodists, and Baptists." The mob
had obtained the feathers, which they used on this occasion,
from Elder Rigdon's home. In consequence of exposure
brought on by this affray, one of the twins contracted a se-
vere cold, from which it died a few days later. Soon after
this, Sidney Rigdon moved with his family to Chardon, a
place about five miles from Kirtland. Joseph went on his
second visit to Zion, in Missouri, thus probably escaping oth-

164 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

er niobbings, for "the spirit of nio])ocracy was very preva-
lent through that whole region of country at the time."

The Writings of Abraham.

Another ancient document of great value which Joseph the
Prophet, was instrumental in revealing to the world is what
is known among the Saints as The Book of Abraham.

In July, 1835, I^fichael H. Chandler came to Kirtland,
exhibiting four ancient mummies, which, according to his
account, had come into his possession in the following man-
ner : His uncle, Antonio Sebolo, a French traveler and anti-
quarian, had explored the catacombs near Thebes, in Egypt,
from one of which he had obtained, at considerable labor
and expense, eleven mummies. With these he was return-
ing to Paris, when he was taken sick and died. The ancient
treasures, at Sebolo's request, were sent to Mr. Chandler,
who was at Philadelphia. The coffins were opened for the
first time in New York, and the features of some of the
bodies were discovered to be in the most perfect expression.
With two of the figures was found "something rolled up in
some kind " of linen and saturated with bitumen," which
proved to be two rolls of papyrus, in perfect state of preser-
vation, and "covered with black or red ink, or paint." Mr.
Chandler, having no particular fondness for this kind of
relics, was induced while at Kirtland, to part with, not only
the papyrus, but also the mummies to some of the Saints.

A few days after the purchase of these rolls, Joseph
with Oliver Cowdery, and William W. Phelps began the
translation of one of them. They discovered to their joy
that it was the writings of Abraham. The other they found
was the writings of Joseph of Egypt. "Truly," says the
Prophet, "the Lord is beginning to reveal the abundance of
peace and truth." From this time on, as his other duties
would permit, he studied the Egyptian alphabet and the rolls,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 165

showing them meantime to friends and strangers who
chanced to appear. Among those to whom he made explan-
ations and exhibitions were Elders William E. M'Lellin,
Brigham Young, Jared Carter, and John Taylor. Finally,
the translation of the Book of Abraham was completed and
published to the world, first in the Times and Seasons, and
afterwards as part of the Pearl of Great Price.

The Book of Joseph, it seems, was never published, if it
was ever translated. The mummies, with which the rolls of
papyrus were found, were kept for several years by Lucy
Smith, Joseph's mother, who had them on exhibition at
Nauvoo ; but they finally found their way to the Chicago
museum, where they were destroyed in the fire that oc-
curred there in 187 1. ,

The Book of Abraham, as published in the Pearl of
Great Price, is a very remarkable work in many respects. It
is in the main an autobiographical sketch of the ancient
patriarch, though it is far more valuable for the great truths
it contains in relation to the customs of the Egyptians and
Chaldeans of that early day ; the location, relative positions,
and operations of the heavenly bodies, which Abraham
learned through the urim and thummim ; the doctrine of pre-
existence, which is set forth with such rare clearness; and
the creation of the earth, which supplements very beautifully
the account given in Genesis.

o

» CHAPTER IV

ZION IS FLED.

Lowering Clouds.

It is but natural that the differences in character and mode
of life we have spoken of between the Missourians and the
Latter-day Saints should result in something more tangible
than sentiment. As early as the spring of 1832, some of the
Saints' houses were stoned at midnight, and the people oth-
erwise molested. Probably, this act was only the expression
on the part of boys, of ideas and feelings which they had been
imbued with at their homes. Yet in the fall of the same year
a haystack belonging to the "Mormons," was burned; the
people insulted and abused, and some of the houses shot into.
In April, 1833, about three hundred of the older inhabitants
met at Independence for the purpose of consulting upon
wiTat' they ought to do with their unwelcome neighbors, the
"Mormons ;" but before they reached the point of serious
deliberation, the meeting broke up in a characteristic Mis-
souri row. The Saints believed that the real secret of this
failure on the part of their enemies to come to an agree-
ment, was a prayer which they had collectively offered that
the meeting might come to naught.

The ministers, too, during this time, were not idle. One
of them, a Reverend Ewing, for instance, declared that "the
Mormons were the common enemies of mankind, and ought
to be destroyed" — a very humane and Christian sentiment,
to be sure, to be found lodged in the heart of a man who was
ostensibly in Missouri to teach people how better to follow
the example of Jesus in all things. A Revereiii.£i.xkji*-iat
about the same time, published a tract entitled "Beware of
False Prophets," in which he denounced the "Mormons, "dis-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 107

tributing it from house to house. This venomous pamphlet
of Pixley's, as well as the diatribe of Ewing's, was answered
in The Star, though in such a general way as not to refer di-
rectly to these preachers or to any of the local ministers.

In July of this year (1833), towards the middle of the
month, the Saints discovered that there was in circulation
among the non-"Mormons" of the county what the latter
were pleased to call the "Secret Constitution." This inter-
esting document, which, judging by the frequent reference
to the theological aspect of the situation, was drawn up by
a sectarian pen, was very numerously signed. The list in-
cluded the names of a jailor, the county clerk and his deputy,
the Indian agent, the postmaster at Independence, a colonel
and judge, two justices of the peace, a lawyer, a doctor, a
constable and his deputy, a captain, and several merchants.
This "Constitution" declared that, since the arm of the civil
law did not offer them a sufficient protection against the evil
of having the "Mormons" among them the signers intended
to rid their society of these objectionable persons, "peaceably
if they could, forcibly if they must." It charged (i) that the
"Mormons" claimed to hold personal communion or con-
verse face to face v/ith the Most High God": (2) that they
were "the very dregs of that society" from which they had
come, and were, therefore, lazy, idle, and vicious; (3) that
they were poor, having brought little VN^ith them from the
East, and left less behind ; (4) that they had tampered with
the slaves of the older settlers; and (5) that they claimed
Jackson county by reason, not of purchase, but of the direct
gift of God. This remarkable document closed with the
words; "We, therefore, agree that after timely warning,
and receiving an adequate compensation for what little
property they cannot take with them, they refuse to leave us
in peace, as they found us, we agree to use such means as
may be sufficient to remove them, and to that end we each

168 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

pledge to each other our bodily powers, our lives, fortunes
and sacred honors !" A meeting was called for the 20th of
the month "to consult on subsequent movements."

When the 20th of July arrived there appeared between
four and five hundred persons at the Independence court
house. After the usual preliminaries of election of officers —
Colonel Richard Simpson, chairman, and James H. Flournoy
and Colonel S. D. Lucas, secretaries, — a committee of seven
— Russel Hicks, Robert Johnson, Henry Childs, Colonel
James Hambright, Thos. Hudspeth, Joel T. Childs, and
James M. Hunter — was appointed to draft an address to the
public. "Professing to act, not from the excitement of the
moment, but under a deep and abiding conviction, that the
occasion was one that called for cool deliberation," this July
meeting, comprising all classes of Jackson county non-
" Mormons," through this report of its committee, gravely
specifies the following charges against the new settlers :
First, that the "Mormons" are elevated "but little above the
condition of our blacks, either in regard to property or edu-
cation." "Most of those who have already come," the docu-
ment goes on to say, "are characterized by the profoundest
ignorance, the grossest superstition, and the most abject pov-
erty." In the next place, it is asserted that the Saints claim
inheritance in Jackson county by special grant of the Lord.
Thirdly, it alleges that the "Mormons" had been tampering
with the Slaves and Indians. Lastly, the belief of the new
comers was objected to. "When we reflect on the extensive
field in wliich the sect is operating," continues this Address,
"and that there exists in every country a leaven of supersti-
tion that embraces with avidity, notions the most extrava-
gant and unheard of, and whatever may be gleaned by them
from the purlieus of vice, and the abodes of ignorance, is to
be cast like a waif into our social circle, it requires no gift of
prophecy to tell that the day is not far distant when the civil

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 169

g-Qveniment of the county will be in their hands, when the
sheriff, the justices, and the county judges will be Mormons,
or persons wishing" to court their favor from motives of in-
terest or ambition." It concluded by declaring: (i) "that
no Mormon shall in future move and settle in this county ;
(2) that those now here, who shall give a definite pledge of
their intention, within a reasonable time to remove out of
the county, shall be allowed to remain unmolested until they
have sufficient time to sell their property, and close their
business, without any material sacrifice; (3) that the editor
of the Star be required forthwith to close his office, and dis-
continue the business of printing in this county ; and as to
all other stores and shops belonging to the sect, their owners
must in every case comply with the terms of the second ar-
ticle of this declaration ; and upon failure, prompt and effi-
cient measures will be taken to close the same : (4), that
the Mormon leaders here, are required to use their influence
in preventing any further emigration of their distant breth-
ren to this county, and to counsel and advise their brethren
here to comply with the above requisitions; (5) that those
who fail to comply with these requisitions, be referred to
those of their brethren who have the gifts of divination, and
of unknown tongues, to inform them of the lot that awaits
them."

A recent non-"Mormon" work praises this "Address to
the Public," for the skill with which it is drawn up. But,
certainly, not so much praise can be given it on the score of
truth, delicacy of sentiment, and humanity; and as it is the
result of "cool deliberation" on the part of its authors and
indorsers, not of "the excitement of the occasion," we may
examine these charges briefly.

The first one is, that the "Mormons" were poor, ignor-
ant, and superstitious. That the Saints were poor is evident
from all that we know of their circumstances at the time.

170 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISxM.

It is doubtless true that some of them were ignorant. But
it is not true that "most of those" who were in the county
were so. Superstitious they certainly were not unless belief
in the Bible and present revelation, visions, miracles, be
called superstitious. , For it cannot be shown that the "super-
stition" of the "Mormons" was anything other than this.
Surely, no genuine believer in the teachings of Christ could
have written or indorsed this Address. Besides, this whole
charge comes with extremely bad grace from a county made
up of the class of people composing the population of Jack-
son county, and it is a weak fortification of their position to
say that there were some "skilled pens" among them.

As to the complaint that the Saints claimed to have re-
ceived land in and around Independence, little need be said.
No one has ever attempted to show that the "Mormons" ever
tried to obtain any land without purchasing it in a legal way.
Indeed, in an unguarded moment the writers of this docu-
ment assert that the Star urges the brethren not to come
here unless they are able to purchase an inheritance "which
means." says this Address, "some fifteen acres of wild land
for each family." It is probable, too, that some unwise per-
sons among the Saints openly boasted that they would soon
enjoy the property now owned by the older settlers, which
the non-"Mormons," with worldly wisdom, interpreted into
an attempt, more or less imminent, to dispossess them of
their rights.

The third charge, namely, that the Saints had tam-
pered witli the slaves and entered into alliance with the In-
dians, is based on what appeared, editorially, in tlie issue of
The Evening and Morning Star of July i6th, respecting
"free people of color." The advice is given in this editorial
for the Saints to use wisdom regarding their conduct and
conversation on the subject, for the reason that "slaves are
real estate in this and other States." Two sections of the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OE MORMONISM. 171

Missouri laws respecting slavery and the punishment for
bringing into the State "any free negro or mulatto, not hav-
ing in his possession a certificate of citizenship," were quoted
without comment. This article on slavery, than which noth-
ing could be a clearer disapproval of the bringing in of "free
people of color" or of tampering with slaves, these men, with
characteristic unfairness, construed into "an indirect invita-
tion to the free brethren of color in Illinois, to come up like
the rest to the land of Zion !" That this w^as only a trumped-
up charge for the purpose of more thoroughly rousing bit-
terness against the "Mormons" in the county, is very evi-
dent for the reason that not a dozen free negroes or mulat-
toes ever belonged to the Church during the first nine years
of its existence. Then, too, if the Saints had tampered with
the slaves, why were they not punished for the ofifense ac-
cording to law? That they were not even arrested for this
alleged crime, is proof positive that the whole charge was "a
wicked fabrication," since this Address as well as the "Secret
Constitution" contends that the situation between the "Mor-
mons" and their neighbors was "unprovided for by the
laws."

The last complaint — that against the religion of the
Saints — reveals the secret animus which brought about the
"Mormon" trouble in Jackson County. The older settlers
feared that, in time, the proselyting system of "Mormon-
ism" would bring about such an influx of "the sect" into the
county, as to cause a transfer of the political offices, with the
emoluments thereof, from Gentile into "Mormon" hands.
Doubtless, just such a state of things would come about in
the course of a few years. But there was certainly nothing
wrong in the "Mormon" people settling in this or any other
part of the United States, in any number whatsoever, since
there was no intention, and no signs of interference with
any one's rights. Nothing reflects greater light on the char-

172 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

acter of tlie Missourians in Jackson county than this com-
plaint together with the five declarations with which the Ad-
dress closes. In the face of these and the subsequent con-
duct of the Gentiles in this part of the county, and also in
the face of their cunfcssion that the "Mormons" had broken
no law, no words need be wasted in denouncing the charac-
ter of the Saints there, and in praising the intelligence, skill,
and general character of the men who attended this meeting
and perpetrated the horrible outrage of expelling the "Mor-
mons"' from the county. These things speak for themselves.

After hearing and approving this report, the meeting
decided to appoint a committee of twelve "forthwith to wait
on the Mormon leaders, and see that the foregoing requisi-
tions are strictly complied with by them." This committee
was appointed. Two hours later the twelve men reported
"that they had called on Mr. Phelps, the editor of the Star;
Edward Partridge, the Bishop of the sect ; and Mr. Gilbert,
the keeper of the Lord's storehouse ; and some others ; and
that they declined giving any direct answer to the requisi-
tions made of them, and wished an unreasonable time for
consultation, not onl\- with their brethren here, but in Ohio."
"Whereupon," to use the extraordinary, but intentionally
vague language of a then current newspaper report, "it was
unanimously resolved by the meeting, that the Star printing
office should be razed to the ground, and the type and press
secured. Which resolution was, ivith tJie utmost order, and
the least jioise and disturbanee possible, forthwith carried
into execution, as also some other steps of a similar tend-
ency; but no blood was spilled, nor any blows inflicted."

The details of this visit to the "leading Mormons" are
these: The committee of twelve called on Edward Part-
ridge, A. S. Gilbert, John Corrill, Isaac Morley, John Whit-
mer, and W. W. Phelps, laying before them the propositions
formulated by the committee of seven and adopted by the

ONE TTUNnRF.D YEARS OF MORAfONISM. iVS

tiieeting^. The lirethren replied that the matter was so im-
portant, involving as it did the interests of twelve hundred
people, as to forhid their giving- an immediate answer. They
therefore asked for three months, and when this was denied
them, ten days, in which they might consult with the au-
thorities in Ohio. But only fifteen minutes was allowed, and
the conference came to an end, the committee returning to
the meeting at the court-house to report.

First Acts of Violence.

This body of men from all parts of the county, including
county officials, a number of clergymen of different denom-
inations, and the Lieutenant Governor of the State, "with
the utmost order, and least noise and disturbance possible,"
if you will, for the more order, the worse, in such a hideous
undertaking, proceeded to the house where the Star was
published, and tore the building down, after having secured
the books, papers, and other literary valuables of the Church,
thrown the press out of an upper window, and driven Mrs.
Phelps with her sick child out upon the street. Then, in the
same "orderly" fashion they broke into the houses of the
Saints, caught several brethren and dragged them to the
public square and proceeded, if we may use the flippant and
irreverent language of an anti-Mormon writer to "decorate
them with feathers." One of these was Edward Partridge,
a man whom Joseph had declared to be without guile. Sur-
rounded by several hundred mobbers, he declared his in-
nocence of any offense against any of them or against the
law, his refusal to comply with their unlawful and unreason-
able request to leave the county, and his determinatioin to
suffer, if need were, for the sake of the gospel, as so many
of Christ's followers had done before him. With profanity
and yells, the tools of the mob thereupon stripped this inno-
cent man of his hat, coat, and vest, daubed him from head to

1<4 0X1-: IIUXDRF.n years of MORMOXIS.\f.

foot with tar, in which had been mixed some strong acid, and
then threw upon him a quantity of feathers. He was then
permitted to leave, many persons in the mob showing by
their countenances how their guilty conscience smote them
for taking part in such a barbarous act. Next came Charles
Allen, who, for the same "ofifense" of not desiring to leave
the county or of denying his religion, was outraged in the
same manner. The other captured brethren, having used the
advantage offered them by the general curiosity to see the
torturing of the victims, escaped before their turns came.
"Fhit no blood z^'os spilled, nor any blows iniiictedr

'^ou now know what our JacTcson boys can do," re-
marked Lieutenant Governor Bo^^sto some of the Saints,
immediately after this exhibition of brute force ; "and you
must leave the county." That night, in darkness and silence,
the women and children, who had fled in terror at the ap-
pearance of the mob, returned to their homes in fear and ap-
prehension as to what had been the lot of those whom this
turbulent mob had taken.

An Appeal to the Law.

During the next few months, from the 20th of July to the
latter ^artof_October, there occurred no open rupture be-
tween the two unfriendly elements in Jackson County, but
there were active measures on the part of the Saints to pro-
tect their rights and constant threatenings on the part of the
mob of what they would do in case their "requisitions" were
not complied with.

On the 23rd day of July a mob, numbering upwards of
five huridr^cl'armeSlTien, came j-ushing^_p£ll-mell into Inde-
pendence, without any w^arning, bearing a red flag. They
began searching for the leaders of the Saints, swearing that
they would bestow from fifty to five hundred lashes on the
backs of all whom they caught. They repeated their threat

()\K nrXORKD YEARS OF MORNfOXTS^t. ito

to rid Jackson county of the "Mormons," peaceably if they
could, forcibly if they nuist. "If they will not g-o out,"
these fiends shouted, "we will whip and kill the men ; we will
destroy their children, and ravish their women !" Efi^ring-
for the lives of their people and hoping to satisfy the insane
fury of the mob, John.C^^rill John Whitmer, William W.
Phel^g^ A^S^ Gilbert, Edward Partridge, and Isaac Mor-
ley. witli r'}iri<;tlike-iinRfilfla.knp<;s. offered to submit to any
cruelty of the mob, even to death, if tlTereBy they might turn
aside from the body of their people in Jackson these out-
pourings of hate. But the animosity of these flint-hearted
Tiieifwould not be aopeased by audi a trifling sacrifice.
These six, they declared, would be lashed soon enough, but
every man, woman, and child would be served likewise, un-
til they consented to leave the county.

Seeing the utter futility of treating with the mob on
any other terms than an agreement to leave, these six breth-
ren signed a "treaty," with their enemies to the efifect "that
Oliver Cowdery, W. W. Phelps, William M'Lellin, Edward
Partridge, Lyman Wight, Simeon Carter, Peter and John
Whitoerj.and Harvey H. Whitlock, shall remove with their
families out of this county, on or before the first day of Jan-
uary next, and that they, as well as the two hereinafter
narhe3[, use all their influence to induce all the brethren now
here'To remove as soon as possible ; one-half, say by the first
of January next, and all by the first day of April next, to ad-
vise aiid'try all means in their power to stop any more of
their sect from moving- to this county ; and as to those now
on the road, they will use their influence to prevent their
settling permanently in the county, but that they shall only
make arrangements for temporary shelter, till a new location
is agreed for the society. John Corrill and Algernon Sidney
Gilbert, are allowed to remain as general agents to wind up
the business of the society, so long as necessity shall require ;

9

It6 ONR liUNnRF.D Vl'.ARS OV ^tORMONlS^i.

aii<l sai<l Tiilljcrt may sell out liis mcrcliandisc now on liand.
l)Ut is to make no new importation." In addition it was
agreed that tlie Star should not again be piihlisKed, nor a
press_set_up, in the county; and that Partridge and Phelps
lie "allowed to go and come, in order to transact and wind
up their business." The mob committee, on their side,
pledged themselves "to use all their influence to prevent any
violence" provided the other party complied with the terms
of agreement.

In the spell of peace that followed this, the Saints_seiit_
Oliver Cowdery to Ohio to consult with the Prophet respect-
ing the best course to pursue in the situation. It was decid-
ed~that the brethren in Missouri should petition- the. -Gover-
nor, Daniel Dunklin, for redress and protection. Accord-
ingly, a pHTfTon was prepared, setting forth the grievances
of the "Mormon" people in Jackson county, and asking the
Governor "to raise by express proclamation, or otherwise, a
sufficient number of troops, who, with us, may be empow-
ered to defend our rights, that we may sue for damages for
the loss of property, for abuse, for defamation, as to our-
selves, and if advisable try for treason against the govern-
ment." Orson^ Hyde and Wiljiam.^^. Phelps took this peti-
tion _'^hich_ was signed by all the members of the Church in
Taxkson countv. to the Governor at Jefferson City. But the
Chief executive, in his reply, declared that he "was not willing
to persuade himself that any portion of the citizens of the
state of Missouri" were so lost to a sense of right "as to re-
quire the exercise of force." He therefore advised the peti-
tioners "to make a trial of the efficacy of the laws," assuring
them, however, that in the event of their not being able to
obtain the necessary protection, he would, when the fact was
"officially notified to" him, "take such steps as will enforce
a faithful execution of" the laws. "No citizen," he further
stated, "nor number of citizens, have a right to take the re-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 177

dress of their grievances, whetlier real or imaginary, into
their own hands." ,

In accordance with the instructions of Governor Dunk-
Hn. the Saints made preparations for securing the necessary
protection from the law courts. They engaged the services
of Attori]fy<; Wnnd Reese. Doniphan, and Ajtttdsan, a law
firm in Clav county. As the court was to convene on the
28th of October, some ^interesting developments were
^waited.

Meanwhile, the mob element had been threatening the
Saints with serious trouble in case they appealed for aid to
the Governor or planted any suits against any of them dur-
ing the ensuing court period. But the brethren had gone
on undaunted by these threats to do both of these things.
When, however, this firm of lawyers was engaged to con-
duct the legal proceedings against members of the anti-
"Mormon" gang, there appeared indications of further vio-
lence between the two parties.

A Resort to Arms.

On the night of October 3|st, a mob force attacked the
Whitmer settlement, on the Big Blue, about ten miles west
of Independence, severely whipped a number of men, fright-
ened^omen and children so that they ran in every direction,
and unroofed ten or twelve houses. On the following night,
^^ov. 1st. IndepoiTdence was attacked, Jipuses were stoned
and the Mormon" store broken into and the goods scattered
inthe street. Several of the brethren, hearing of this sec-
ond attack, came to the rescue. They caught one_pf the
mobbers. Mcrarty b^" namp \vho_was_hn1der tban the rest,
for he remained while the others fled, in the act of destroy-
ing the property. They took him to Jusiice__Weston, with
the request that a warrant be issued for his arrest; but the

iudgc refused, and so the man was set free. After this, it
12

178 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

may be interesting to note, a warrant was made out against
these same brethren for assauU and battery on the person of
McCarty, and false imprisonment, on which they were actu-
ally tried and imprisoned ! On this night another attack was
planned on the Saints, at Kaw Township, but the capture
and detention of the spies by the brethren, prevented the pro-
posed disturbance.

The "Mormons," hopeless as to any outside aid coming
to them, now began to arm themselves for defense. The
mob forces became bolder and more violent. A second at-
tack was made on the branch on the Big Blue. DavId~Ben-
net was beaten and shot while lying sick in bed. This fact
coming to the ears of nineteen of the "Mormons,"' who were
not far off, they hastened to the scene, whereupon a skir-
mish occurred, in which one of the mob])ers was shot. At
this point in the difficulties. Parley P. Pratt and some others
were despatched to Lexington for a peace warrant from
Circuit Judge Ryland, but Ryland refused to grant one, ad-
vising them "to fight and kill the outlaws whenever they
made any attacks."

Monday, Nov. 4th, was "the bloody day," which the
Missourians had threatened the previous Saturday. On this
day a collision occurred between them and about thirty
"Mormons." A battle followed, in which several on both
sides were wounded. One of the brethren, Andrew Barber,
was mortall}' wounded, dying next day. Txyc^ ,of the mob
were killed, Thomas Linville and II. L. Brazeale, the latter
of whom had boasted that with ten more like himself he
would wade to his knees in blood, but he would drive the
"Mormons" from Jackson county.

Excitement now became intense. Lieuteiiaiit .Goy^ruor
Boggscalled out the militia, which consisted of the very men
\vho Jiad taken part all along in these attacks upon the
Saints ; so that now the mob was legalized and better pre-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 179

pared to accomplish its object. Through a misunderstand-
ing, Lyman Wight with about one hundred of the brethren
cauia-tawards Fudependence where the militia was stationed
under Lucas and_ Pitcher, two of the bitterest anti-"Mor-
mons" in the country; but the company retreated when they
learned that no mob was making an attack. It was enough,
however, that they had been seen. The enraged Pitcher de-
manded that the brethren surrender their arms and deliver
up certain men, who had been engaged in the battle on the
preceding day, to be tried for murder. Wight refused, un-
less Pitcher would also disarm his men. TJiis was agreed to,
and Wight's company gave up their arms, forty-nine guns
and one pistol.

But the other side did not fulfill their part of the
agreement. Instead, they entered the Saints' houses,^beat
the me.n, and threatened the women and children, who fled

in consternatigiL. L^man Wight was chased for several

miles by a gang of militiamen, and endured much suffering
in consequence of lying out nights, and being without food
or shelter. Ministers and soldiers vied with each other in
inflaming the popular mind against the "Mormons" and in
hounding them about upon the prairie, committing all sorts
of depredations. A companyof one hundred and ninety
Saints, all women and children, except three helpless old
men, "were driven across a burnt prairie. The ground was
thinly crusted with sleet, and the trail of these exiles was
easily followed by the blood which flowed from their lacer-
ated feet !" Thus were the "Mormons" forced to flee from
their homes in this most unfavorable season of the year, lest,
by remaining, they should all be cruelly murdered. This
final act of violence ocupied several days.

On the sev^th of November, says the Prophet in his
journal, the shores of the river began to be lined on both
sides of the ferry with men, women, and children, goods.

180 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

wagons, chests, provisions, etc. ; while the ferrymen were
busily employed in crossing them over; and when night
again closed upon the Saints, the wilderness had much the
appearance of a camp-meeting. Hundreds of people were
seen in the open air, around their fires, while the rain de-
scended in torrents. Husbands were inquiring for their
wives, and women for their husbands ; parents for children,
and children for parents. Some had the good fortune to
escape with their family, household goods, and some pro-
visions; while others knew not of the fate of their friends,
and had lost all their goods. The scene was indescribable,
and would have melted the hearts of any people on earth, ex-
cept the blind oppressor, and prejudiced and ignorant bigot.
Next day the company increased and they were chiefly en-
gaged in felling small cottonwood trees and erecting them
into temporary cabins, so that when night came on, they
had the appearance of a village of wagwams, and the night
being clear, the occupants began to enjoy some degree of
comfort." While the Saints were encamped here, a won-
derful meteoric shower occurred, which frightened the mob
while it encouraged the Saints.

As soon as they could, this body of "Mormons" crossed
the river, homeless and friendless and stripped of nearly all
their earthly possessions, into Clay county, just north of
Jackson, trusting that their reception would be less unwel-
come than it had been among the people they were leaving.
Just why they went to Clay instead of some other county is,
it appears, that they had been prohibited from settling in
any other of the adjacent counties. Those who had sought
refuge elsewhere had been compelled either to return or to
go into the northern county.

The suff"ering and material loss sustained by the Saints
in this Jackson county trouble were great. Of their hard-
ships we have already spoken in part. Rut this was b\' no

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MOR.MONISM. 181

means ended when the main body crossed the river. The
unrelenting Missourians did not abandon the chase for
"Mormon" victims till every one of these had been driven
from the county. At_ Independence two or three old men,
had thought that their age might shield them from the bru-
tality of their enemies, but they had over-estimated the hu-
manity of the mob, for they were beaten and turned out to
join their fellow-exiles. "On November 23d the mob drove
out a little settlement of some twenty families living about
fifteen miles from Independence, compelling women and
children to depart on immediate notice." As late^as Febru-
ary, 1834, three of the brethren who lingered obscurely in
the county, were unmercifully beaten over the head with
chairs, and afterwards dragged out of their houses and left
for 4ead. The loss of property, too, nnist have been very
great on the part of this body of more than twelve hundred
persons, notwithstanding they were poor. They practically
lost nearly all the land for which they had paid, and more
than two hundred houses which they had built went up in
flames.

CHAPTER V.

HOPE defp:rred.

Reception of the Exiles.

The generous people o fj^lay- -county , on the north side of
the Missouri, gave the exiles a temporary home. They
viewed with just indignation and horror the outrages which
their Jackson county neighbors had heaped upon the "Mor-
mons," and when they saw these homeless wanderers
stripped of their property and sent ruthlessly forth to seek a
less inhospitable resting place, their hearts were touched.

Not that the inhabitants of Clay entertained any love
for the "Mormons." but rather because they disliked them
less than their bloody-minded neighbors. Practically the
same class of people had settled this that occupied the south-
ern county; but there were more honorable men to guide
public sentiment in the former place. It has ever been thus
in the history of the Saints. Whenever they have suffered
persecution, it has been because a few designing men, wheth-
er ministers or politicians, have incited the blind and ignor-
ant zeal of the people to the commission of deeds which
their own baseness conceived, but which they would hesitate
to commit. In Jackson the chief officers of the county — in-
deed, nearly all of them were implicated, — assisted by the
Lieutenant Governor of the State and the jealous ministry,
who could unite only on such a proposition as this, were the
real instigators of this piece of barbarity. But these leaders
did not, with few exceptions, execute their designs. This
they left for the irresponsible common people to do. So thai
if any liarm threatened them, each, like Macbeth, could de-
clare, "Thou canst not say I did it!" But it was different in
Clav countv. Here there were at least a few honorable men

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 183

who slirank from these deeds of hloodguiltiness, and who
had the manhood to step forward to o-uide pubHc opinion. It
was these men who, as we shall see later, adjusted the difti-
culties that arose subsequently between the Saints and
their neighbors in the county, and prevented thereby a rep-
etition of the scenes of violence that had occurred in
Jackson.

So the Saints found here a temporary resting-place.
Every vacant house in the county was given over to the ex-
iles. The men were employed on the farms, and, indeed, at
every other form of work to which they could put their
hands. Some of the women taught school, others obtained
employment in the families of the well-to-do farmers. The
Saints generally, having been plundered of their property,
were in almost utter destitution. In this way, however, they
sought, not without joy, to retrieve their fortunes. Some
rented farms, some who could afford it bought small pieces
of land; and thus, by continuous industry, it was not long
till they were pretty well recovered from their sad plight.

But what was of benefit to. the Saints materially, ap-
peared likely to prove their undoing spiritually. T_hey were
in a scattered condition; and one great source of unity in
"]\Iormonism"' is social intea'C9ur££. Here families were brok-
en up, children having gone almost from under the charge
of the parents. So that family prayers and those other sa-
cred ceremonies of the hearth could not be readily attended
to. Then they were unable, except in a few cases where small
cottage meetings were held, to meet with their leaders, min-
gle freely with their brethren and sisters, and partake of the
sacrament. Hence they were almost from under the influ-
ence, too, of the authorities of the Church. Of course, they
were bound together by a common faith, and by persecution
which all had endured alike with patience and fortitude. But,
after all, the marvel is, not that the Saints grew careless

184 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

/ with respect to tlieir religious duties, but rather that they
d'n\ not altogether forget these duties, cast aside their religion
as a constant source of grief and persecution, and become ut-
terly lost among their surroundings. 1 lerein consists one
of the indications of the strange and mysterious power which
this religion exerts over the lives of its adherents.

This scene, and others similar to it, exhibit in part
"the real miracle" of "Mormonism." Here w'ere twelve hun-
dred people of diverse ancestry and training, living almost
upon the kindness of their new found friends till, as they
hoped, they should be restored to their homes and property,
from which they had been unjustly and cruelly expelled,
after having so long looked forward to this as a land of
promise to them — here were these men and women refusing
to give up their religion or their hopes in a future Zion. They
might have turned against their faith and exclaimed : '"Our
Creed is the sole cause of our calamities. Before we knew
it, we were at peace with the world. Now, every man's
hand is turned against us. We have forfeited our good
names among our friends ; we are vilified ; we have been
robbed of all that our hands have hardly earned. We had
hoped to find in Jackson county a permanent home, a land
of peace, a place of safety. Instead, we found a sword and
exile. Our hopes have turned to gall and wormwood. Let
us therefore abandon this faith. We will no longer believe
in new revelation, in the miraculous character of the Nephite
Record, in the divine mission of the modern Prophet, or in
the delusive hopes of this Promised Land. Then our good
names will come back to us ; we shall regain our homes ; we
shall again live at peace with men." But they did not do this.
Perhaps even the thought of doing it did not occur to them ;
or, if it did, they thrust it away as treason to God and the
cause of Truth. The whole circumstance, therefore, exhibits

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF ^foRMONISM. 185

a faith such as the world has rarely witnessed. T£tilVi_ ^
"Mormonisni" is a religion of power and vitality ! ^wi^'^-^v-'t— 'V^t

In accepting the hospitality of these kind people, how-
ever, the Saints had no intention of remaining" in Clay
county permanently. There is no reason, however, why they
should not have stayed there if they were so disposed. In a
free country like ours, where the rights of the people are
protected in every state, there could not be the slightest legal
or moral objection to their permanent settlement there, so
long as they did not interfere with the rights of those who
were already in the county. But the Saints had not the least
intention of remaining there. They fully expected to be re-
stored to their homes in Jackson.

There are two things that go to show this. In the first
place, there was to them a sacredness in the land of Inde-
pendence which forbade them ever to think of leaving it.
To them it was the Land of Promise, the place where the
New Jerusalem will be built. The very thought of leaving
this sacred land was painful in the extreme. Whatever op-
position, therefore, manifested itself here, they must not for-
sake Zion. In the next place, they fully expected the gov-
ernment, either state or national, to restore them to their
homes. They did not suppose that the state or nation would
see twelve hundred people robbed and driven from their
homes, without making an effort to set things right. In this
matter, however, they were mistaken. They were destined,
not only not to return to their Zion, but to be driven from
the State where their hopes centered, far away from the
scenes of violence and bloodshed of Missouri ; and were,
moreover, to see that there was insufficient justice and honor
in the State to give them back the property which a lawless
band of plunderers had taken from them.

With this hope of soon returning to their homes, the
Saints set about manfullv to secure that return.

186 ON'R HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

At the Feet of Judge, Governor, and President.
The State officials, when they heard of these "outrageous
acts of unparalleled violence," seemed anxious to reinstate
the Saints in their homes. R. \V. Wells, the attorney-geii-„
era], corresponded with the attorneys of the Church upon the
^subject He informed them that, if the Saints desired to re-
turn, the vState militia would be called out for that purpose.
He suggested, also, that the Saints organize themselves in-
to a company of militia, and that, if they applied soon
enough, they might obtain State arms. These were most
likely the sentiments also of the Governor ; for he and Wells
had been in consultation over the matter, and. besides, he
had requested Judge Ryland to furnish him with informa-
tion concerning the actions of the mob. The judge ex-
pressed his willingness to have the guilty ones brought to
trial, if the Saints would prefer the charges, which they pro-
ceeded at once to do. According to the expressed wishes of
the Saints, the court of inquiry was postponed till the regu-
lar term.

Meantime, in December, they prepared a petition to the
Governor in which they set forth, in great detail, the wrongs
which they had suffered, and prayed to be reinstated in their
homes, and, when reinstated, to be protected by a detach-
ment of troops. This latter step, they reasoned, would be
necessary in order that they might not be driven again. To
this the Governor replied that he was willing to take steps
towards resettling them upon their lands, but did not have
power to keep troops near to protect them from further vio-
lence. They had the right he said, to arm themselves at the
expense of the State, when organized into a company of
State militia. His reasoning in this matter of his lack of
power to protect the Saints, appears rather fallacious ; for
the laws of the State expressly gave the Governor power "in
case of actual or threatened invasion, insurrection, or war,

ONE HUNDRi:n VRARS OF MORMONISM.

1.S7

or public daiii^er, or other emergency, to call forth into actu-
al service such portion of the militia as he may deem expedi-
ent." But he chose, for some reason, to interpret this to
mean merely calling them out, not retaining them in actual
service.

In February the circuit court convened at Independence.
The Saints, according to Judge Ryland's request, had pre-
ferred charges against certain citizens of Jackson county,
and twelve leading Elders had been subpoenaed as State
witnesses. With a strong guard, under the command of
Captain Atchison, they went to Independence and lodged in
the "Block House." Here Mr. Willis, who had been sent
by the Governor to assist the circuit attorney, and Mr. Reese
waited upon the brethren after considerable delay and quiet-
ly informed them that there was no further reason to hope
tor criminal procedure against the mob. Both men had
manifestly got under the influence of the mobbers. Soon
afterwards Captain Atchison received orders to remove his
guard, because they were no longer needed. Thus ended
the only eflfort on the part of Missouri officials to execute the
law and redress the wrongs of the Saints. They were, for
the most part, very profuse in expressions of patriotic senti-
ments ; they had telling words of eulogy for the laws of the
State and the rights of the people ; but they lacked either the
desire or the moral courage to put those high-flown senti-. T
ments into action that would relieve the oppressed andj
vindicate the law by punishing the guilty.

These efforts failing, the Lord instructed the exiled
Saints to petition the Governor of the State and also the
President of the United States. They therefore prepared
another petition to the Governor, enclosing a copy of the
revelation (section loi) concerning the redemption of Zion.
But nothing ever came of their letter. They did likewise in
their petition to the President. They related to him the

LiTi^

J^

188 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

wrongs which they had suffered in Jackson county, the at-
tempts which they had made to obtain redress, and the result
of these attempts. In their letter they enclosed the reply of
Governor DunkHn concerning his lack of authority in the
matter of protecting the Saints. In May they were told that
the offenses of which they complained were violations of
State laws, not laws of the United States ; and therefore the
general government could do nothing for them.

One more thought gave hope to the Saints. The legis-
lature might act. When that body met, the Governor in his
message called attention to the Jackson county outrages, and
suggested that it was for them to do what they thought best
in the matter. The Saints petitioned the legislature to pass
a law reinstating them in their homes and protecting them
when reinstated. But the law-makers took no heed of the
petition. Thus every shred of hope was snatched from the
weary and homeless Saints.

Zion's Camp.

No ; not every shred. There was one remaining. The Lord
had commanded them to entreat, one after another, the heads
of government, state and national, and if they failed to get
redress for their wrongs. He declared that He would "come
forth out of His hiding-place, and in His fury vex the na-
tion." In February, 1834, the Lord had commanded Joseph
to call the young and middle-aged men in the Church to go
up to Missouri and redeem Zion. Surely if this should fail,
there need be entertained no further hope of a reinstatement
till a remote period.

In the same month, steps were taken to fulfill this reve-
latoin. Joseph and other leading brethren went to the vari-
ous eastern branches of the Church advocating this move-
ment. They rehearsed graphically the persecutions of the
Saints in Missouri, and advised the young and middle-aged

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 189

men to help in the redemption of Zion. Portage, a small
town about fifty miles from Kirtland, was appointed as the
gathering place. Thither all who desired to enlist were sent
to await the day of starting. Early rn^^Iay, 1834, a com-
pany of about one hundred and fifty men, with wagons filled
with provisions for their journey as well as for the relief of
the destitute Saints in Missouri, departed for the land of
Zion. This number was increased to two^iiundred by the
time the company reached Missouri.

It must have been a strange sight, this body of armed
men in time of peace, silent and reserved, marching in order-
ly procession, with their wagon-loads of provisions, through
Ohio. Indiana, and Illinois towards the West. The strictest
order was maintained throughout. Regularly at the sound-
ing of the trumpet the various companies knelt to pray, had
breakfast, and began the march ; and this trumpet sounded
the orders during the day. Every man kept absolutely mute
tes^ecting their destim- or identity, whenever the curious
spectators "ventured to inquire. Once or twice they were
threatened with violence, and attempts were made to prevent
them from passing on their journey ; but on they went un-
dismayed, wnth the same silence and order.

This was the appearance to those who looked on. With-
in, the situation was not so cheering. Dissension arose. Syl-
vester Smith and Lyman ^^^ight attempted to divide the
campj but were unsuccessful, except in that they enter-
tained, or caused others to entertain, feelings not in harmon\
with the spirit of their mission. Orn^^^Sflftj^li-^efused to di-
vide his food with some of the brethren. At another time
both men tried to introduce discord over a question as to
whether they should or should not camp close to timber.
Considerable bad feelings, at one time and another, were
manifested over the most trivial matters. Joseph reproved
the discontented brethren. He told them that a scourge

190 ONE IIUNDKliD YEARS OF MORMON ISM.

would come upon the camp in consequence of which they
"should die like sheep with the rot." This prophecy, as we
shall see, was fulfilled with frightful literalness.

Upon reaching Sail River, the camp despatched jParlev_
P. Pratt and Orson Hyde to call upon Governor Dunklm and
ask for a military force sufficient to reinstate the Saints in
their homes. In the interview which these brethren had
with the chief executive, the Governor expressed himself as
being convinced that the Saints had been unjustly dealt with
in the Jackson county courts, but feared to excite civil war
by calling out any force to aid the camp. He advised that
the exiled Saints sell their lands to their persecutors, "^^'e
will hold no terms," exclaimed the irate brethren, "with land
pirates and murderers !" This was in June.

The Prophet heard the report of the brethren on their
return. The camy. approached Richmond, through the
streets of which they passed in the quiet of daybreak, owing
to threats that had been made during the previous day. They
intended to reach Clay county late in the day, but night
found them encamped between two forks of Fishing river.

Meanw'hile, the enemies of the Saints were not idle.
Hearing of Zion's camp, they determined to prevent the ful-
filment of its mission. A company of two hundred of the
old-time mob had been organized in Jackson county to go
against "Joe Smith's army." At the fords ofFishing rivex
this band was to be joined by a party of sixty from Rich-
mond and by another of seventy from Clay county. Five
men rode, in the evening, into the camp of the Saints, and
wath profane insolence informed the brethren that they
would "catch hell before morning."

But a furious rain storm prevented their evil work. At
sundown there was observed a small cloud in the sky, which
grew darker and larger as the evening fell. "In twenty
minutes the whole heavens were inkv-blackness, which now

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 191

and then seemed split by the vivid streams of Hghtning."
Big trees were wrenched from the "firm set earth;" large
hail stones mowed down all vegetation ; and Fishing river
rose forty feet during the night. The proposed union of the
mob did not, therefore, occur ; for these forces were violent-
ly and suddenly dispersed. A boat-load of forty mobocrats,
however, suffered the bitter pelting of the rain all night.
Thus the plans of the mob came to nothing, and thus was
the hand of God manifested to protect His servants.

Next day, the camp having moved to a better situation.
Colonel Sconce and two other leading men in Ray county
came into the camp. He was one of the number who had
entertained evil designs on Zion's camp. He frankly con-
fessed his belief that there was "an Almighty power with
this people." Joseph told them the extent to which the
Saints had innocently suft'ered, and the object which the
camp of Zion had in coming all this distance. The Colonel
and his companions departed with a promise to correct as
far as they were able, the false impressions that were out
respecting the intentions of Zion's army.

Attempts at Arbitration.

The next day Cprneliiis_5,illium, the sheriff of Clay county,
had an interview with the Prophet, in which he elicited the
following facts respecting the object of Joseph and his com-
panions. It was the purpose to reinstate the Saints in their
lands in Jackson county, by order of the chief executive of
the state, if that could be obtained. They were perfectly
willing for "twelve disinterested men, six to be chosen by
each party" to arbitrate the difficulty between the Saints and
their enemies in Jackson County, They expressed them-
selves as being of peaceful intentions. These facts were
publislied over the signatures of six brethren, including
Joseph.

192 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Before this, arbitration as a means of adjusting matters,
had been suggested. The Governor had recommended such
an adjustment of affairs, having advised the Saints to sell
their lands and move elsewhere. So that this way of settling
the trouble was nuich discussed even before the camp of Zion
had reached Missouri.

But justice for the Saints from their old neighbors was
out of the question. On the sixteenth of June about one
thousand people met at Liberty to inquire into the matter of
ihly adjusting their difficulties with the people of Jack-
son county. A committee from Jackson county proposed the
following: The old settlers will buy the lands of the "Mor-
mons" with the improvements thereon, the value to be de-
termined by three arbitrators chosen by each party. Twelve
"Mormons" are to go with the arbitrators to show them the
land, and any other "Mormons" may go whom the arbitrat-
ors may desire to ask, the people of Jackson to guarantee
entire safety to the "Mormons" so acting. Then, after the
report of the committee, the people of Jackson county will
pay to the "Mormons" the value of land and improvements
with one hundred per cent added thereon, within thirty days
provided the "Mormons" agree not to settle in the county
thereafter. Or, the Saints might buy the land in Jackson
county under the same conditions. The meeting, at which
there were a number of brethren, broke up in confusion.
The delegation from Jackson county were answered, before
leaving Liberty, that they should know definitely by the
twentieth whether the Saints would buy or sell.

As the delegation were on their way home, one of the
leaders named Campbell, was heard to say : "The eagles
and buzzards "shall eat my flesh, if I don't fix Joe Smith and
his army so that their skins won't hold shucks before two
days are passed." And the "eagles and buzzards" did eat
his flesh ; for, in crossing the river the boa! sank like so much

OXE HUNDRKD YEARS OF MORMON ISM. I9[i

lead, though the river was perfectly calm. At least seven

out of about twelve were drowned. Campbell's body was --^^ir-*^ ^

found, three weeks afterwards, on a pile of driftwood with

the flesh half eaten.

When the proposition made by the Jackson county dele-
gation was laid before the Saints, it was rejected by them.
On its face it was feasible enough. But it in reality required
them to surrender their rights as American citizens. More-
over, the Saints clung, and were willing always to cling, to
the thought that the land of Zion was sacred to them ; it was .>c.'- <•'-'-
the direct gift of God* As to buying the land of their ene-
mies, everyone knew that this was in:possible, on account of
the poverty of the Saints. They proposed, however, that
twelve disinterested persons should decide upon the valua-
tion of the property of such persons as would not live with
the "Mormons," and that these same men determine the loss
sustained by the latter in the persecutions, the second amount
to be deducted from the first. To this the Jackson countv
people would not consent. And here the matter of '"arbitra-
tion" ended, and the Saints were to lose everything.

A Prophecy Fulfilled.

And so Zion was not redeemed. After the departure of
Gillium from the camp of Zion's army, the Lord revealed the
reason of this failure. Zion might have been redeemed even
now, said the Lord, if it had not been for the transgression
of my people.

And Zion's camp disbanded, but not before the scourge,
predicted by the Prophet, had fallen upon them in terrible
judgment. The scourge was the cholera. It was about the
middle of June when it appeared. Sixty-eight of the breth-
ren were attacked during the week. Joseph and Hyrum, in
trying to turn away the judgment of God, were themselves
taken down with it. Sidnev Gilbert, who, while in perfect

13 - r

194 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

4
health, had declared to the Prophet a few hours before that

he would rather die than go on a mission, was stricken with
the fell disease, and died in horrible agony. Finally, the
scourge was turned away and the camp of Israel was again
well, after suffering an affliction under which the righteous
were touched as the less worthy had been.

In having thus to forsake their homes and having their
hopes in the redemption of Zion blighted, the Saints have
not ceased to look forward to the time when they shall enjoy
the land of peace, and when all the purposes of the Lord re-
specting the land shall be accomplished. Though their hopes
for the immediate redemption of Zion were blighted, these
hopes served only as precursors to a brighter and more en-
during hope. And the Saints are still looking forward to
Zion in Jackson county, Missouri. Recently, the promise of
the Lord to redeem the land of Zion "by money and not by
the shedding of blood" began its realization in the purchase
by the Church of twenty-six and three-fourths acres of the
original sixty-three owned by the Church in 1831 .

CHAPTER VI.

IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.

We return now to Kirtland. During the time occupied by
the events which we have related in the tvv^o preceding chap-
ters, great things were occurring at the Ohio town, in com-
pensation, as it appears, for the distress in connection with
the now departed Zion.

Some Fwther Organisations.

OntheiTth of February, 1834, fifty-eight persons — twenty-
four high priests, including the First Presidency, seventeen
elders, four priests, and thirteen members — met at the home
of the Prophet. The high priests present, with Joseph at the
head, "proceeded to organize the High Council of the
Church of Christ, which was to consist of twelve High
Priests, and one or three Presidents, as the case might re-
quire." The purpose of this organization \yas expressed to
be to settle "important difficulties which might arise in the
Church, which could not be settled by the Church or the
Bishop's council to the satisfaction of the parties." The
following high priests were chosen to constitute this first
high council: Joseph Sniitli, Sen., John Smith,. Joseph
^oe, John Johnson, Martin Harris, John S. Carter, Jared
Carter, Oliver Cowdery, Samuel H. Smith, Orson Hyde,
Sylvester Smith, and Luke Johnson.

At this meeting the details of procedure at trials were
determined upon. The Prophet Joseph was President, with
Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams as his counselors.
The President might act alone in the absence of the other
two, or both or either of them might act in the absence of

106 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the President. Vacancies in the high council, whether by
death, removal, or transgression, were to be filled "by nom-
ination of the President or Presidents, and sanctioned oy
the voice oFa general council of High Priests, convened for
that purpose, to act in the name of the Church." It was de-
cided as the duty of the high council, wherever organized
regularly, "to cast lots by numbers, and thereby ascertain,
who of the twelve shall speak first, commencing with num-
ber one, and so in succession to number twelve." If the case
before them be not difficult, and this is to be decided by the
twelve councilors, two only shall be appointed to speak ; but
if it be difficult, four are to speak; and if very difficult, six;
but in no case shall more than six be appointed. And _'.'^ev-
tT^man is to speak according to equity and justice." Those
councilors who draw even numbers are "to stand up in be-
half of the accused, and prevent insult or injustice." In all
cases, however, the accuser and the accused must be given the
privilege of speaking for themselves before the council after
the evidence has been heard and the councilors appointed to
speak have finished. Then the president is to give his de-
cision, calling upon the twelve councilors to sustain it by
vote. A majority is necessary to sustain the decision. If,
however, any of those who have not spoken discover an er-
ror in the president's decision, the case is to have a re-hear-
ing, and if new light be thrown upon it. the decision is to be
altered accordingly.

Such was the organization of the first high council of
the Church — one part of the admirable system of our eccles-
iastical judiciary. Since then, the rapid and extensive
growth of the Church has required the organization of a
high council in each stake of Zion. But es.sentially the same
rules' of procedure are followed now as were used by this
first high council. The President of the Church, however,
is no longer president of this organization ; this office is now

^xJr

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 197

held by the president of the Stake in which the higli council
is situated, and Tiis two counselors assist him in his presi-
dency here. This court seems to be one of appellate rather
than of original jurisdiction. It deals chiefly with cases
that are appealed to it from the bishop's court. At present in
our highly organized state, there is an appeal from this court
to that of the First Presidency in certain specified cases ;
otherwise it must prove the end of controversy.
Y^ It was just one year after this that the quorum of
/^Twelve Apostles was organized. On Sunday. February 8th.
TS35, after the mobbings at Missouri and the journey of
Zion's Camp thither, the Prophet Joseph called r)righam
and Joseph Young to his home and related to them a vision
he had received.

"Brethren," he said, "I have seen those men who died in
Zion's Camp, in Missouri ; and the Lord knows, if I get a
mansion as bright as theirs, I ask no more."

And he wept. Recovering, he asked these two men
"to notify all the brethren living in the branches, within a
reasonable distance from this place, to meet at a general con-
ference on Saturday next. I shall then and there appoint
tweh^e Special Witnesses, to open the door of the Gospel to
foreign nations ; and jt^oii," he said, pointing to Brigham,
"will be one of them." This announcement "produced in the
minds of the two elders present a great sensation and many
reflections." Joseph then expressed himself very feelingly
upon the matter, detailing the duties which would be re-
quired of these new officers.

On the following Saturday the conference appointed
was held at Kirtland. "President Smith then stated that
the meeting had been called, because God had commanded
it ; and it was made known to him by vision and by the Holy
Spirit." The duty of naming the first Apostles having been
imposed years before this, by revelation, upon the three wit-

198 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

nesses to the Book of Mormon, these men proceeded, in a
second meeting held on the same day, to choose the men who
were to constitute the first quorum of Twelve in this dis-
pensation. Their names, as then selected, are : . Lyman E.
Johnson, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Qrson Hyde.
David W. Patten, Luke S. Johnson, William E. M'Lellin,
John F. Boynton, Orson Pratt, William Smith, Thomas B.
Marsh, and Parley P. Pratt. The first three were ordained
at this mecing by the three witnesses, their ordination and
blessing being confirmed immediately afterwards by the
First Presidency. On the following day,- being a continua-
tion of the conference, the next six members of the quorum
were ordained ; on the 2ist, Parley P. Pratt ; and on the 26th
David W. Patten and Orson Pratt. Subsequently, this first
quorum was rearranged, the oldest being given the first
place, and so on down to the youngest. The list then stood :
Thomas B. Marsh, David W. Patten, Brigham Young.
Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, William E. M'Lellin, Par-
ley P. Pratt, Luke S. Johnson, William Smith, Orson Pratt.
John F. Boynton, and Lyman E. Johnson. On the 4th of
May they left Kirtland on their first mission.

All these men were chosen from those who went up. in
Zion's Camp, to Missouri after the expulsion of the Saints
from Jackson county. Indeed, one of the main objects the
Lord had in this movement was to furnish an opportunity to
try the integrity of the brethren. At the meeting held after
this Joseph, in his address before the elders, said that God
"could not organize His Kingdom with twelve men to open
the gospel door to the nations of the earth, unless he took
them from a body of men who had offered their lives, and
who had made as great a sacrifice as did Abraham."
^- Oliver Cowdery at this time gave the twelve a charg;.-.
including what Parley P. Pratt calls the "Oath and Covenant
of Apostleship." He told them that he and the other breth-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 199

ren, ever since the Lord had made it known that there should
lie Twelve Apostles, had looked forward prayerfully to the
day when this promise should be fulfilled. Since the Apos-
tles_were Special Witnesses, he declared, tliey should never
cease striving till they had seen God face to face. He pre-
dicted their rejection by men, but they should not lose heart
on that account. The world must be vvarned, and if they re-
fused to perform their full duty, others would take up the
labor, and they should lose their crowns. Their faith must
be even like that of Enoch and the Brother of Jared. Tak-
ing each one of the twelve by the hand, he said: '.'Do you
with full purpose of heart take part in tliis ministry, to_2rP-^
claim the gospel with all diligence, with these your brethren,
according to the tenor and intent of the charge you have
received ?" And each answered that he did.

This quorum of Apostles thus organized, is the second
quorum in the Church. As we have seen, they are called
"special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world :
thus differing from other officers in the Chruch in the duties
of their calling. And they form a quorum, equal in author-
ity and power to the three Presidents," that is, the First
Presidency of the Church. They open the door of the gos-
pel to all nations. Thus Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde
opened the British mission ; John Taylor, the French ;
Lorenzo Snow the Swiss ; Erastus Snow the Scandinavian ;
and Heber J. Grant, the Japanese. .

L'p to the present time (1905), fort}-iOur persons have
held a standing in the quorum of the Twelve in this dispen-
sation. Of thisjiumber, eleven have been expelled from the
quorum, all but three before the Church had come West in
1847. The quorum as at present constituted is : Francis
M. Lyman. John Henry Smith, George Teasdale, Heber J.
Grant, John W. Tavlor. Marriner W. Merrill, Matthias F.

200 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Cowley, Rudger Clawson, Hyrum M. Smith, Reed Smoot,
George Albert Smith, and Charles W. Penrose.

Not long after this organization of the Twelve, the first
quorum of Seveiit)' in this dispensation was organized. On
the same occasion that the Prophet informed Elders Brig-
ham and Joseph Young of the purpose to organize a quorum
of Apostles, he made known that Seventies should also be
chosen. And "the Lord," he said, turning to Joseph, "has
made 3'ou a president of the Seventies." It had been very
generally known by the Saints from the beginning that at
some time in the future Twelve Apostles would be chosen,
for as early as June. 1829, the Lord had so declared to Jo-
seph ; but no such revelation had been made public with re-
spect to the Seventies. Hence it is not surprising that it
''caused these brethren to marvel."

"On the 28th of February," says the Prophet's journal,
'the Church in council assembled, commenced selecting in-
dividuals to be Seventies, from the number of those who
went up to Zion with me in the Camp." Seventy persons
were chosen, seven of whom were disignated as presidents.
The names of these latter were: Joseph Young. Levi W.
Hancock, James Foster, Daniel S. Miles, Josiah Butterfield,
Salmon Gee. and John Gaylord.

It never seems to have been the intention to limit this
class of organizations to one single quorum, nor, indeed, to
any particular number of quorums ; for the Prophet, scarce-
ly a month after the formation of the quorum, said at a
meeting, the minutes of which are now in the Church histor-
ian's office in the handwriting of William E. M'Lellin : "If
the first Seventy are all employed, and there is a call for more
laborers, it will be the duty of the seven president? of the
first Seventy to call and ordain other Seventy and send them
forth to labor in the vineyard, until, if needs be, they set
a; art seven times seventy, and even until there are one bun-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 201

cired and forty-four thousand thus set apart for the minis-
try." According to this there could be more than two thou-
sand quorums ; and even this large number does not appear
from the spirit of the statement made by the Prophet to be
given as a limit, but simply as an indication of the immense
force of the foreign ministry — a figure of speech, in fact, by
which the definite is j^lricerl for the indefinite.

Thisisjjic third quorum of the Church in order of au-
thority. Like the Twelve Apostles, tlvj ScAxntics are called
"to be special witnesses unto the (jentiles and in all the
world," always, however, under the direction of the Twelve.
They thus, with the apostles, constitute the standing foreign
ministry of the Church. "And they form a quorum equal in
authority to that of the twelve special witnesses or apostles."
Their duties, both in this and in the Christian dispensation,
are much the same as those required of the Twelve. The
First Seven Presidents of Seventy at present (1905) are:
Seymour B. Young, C. D. Fjeldsted, B. H. Roberts, George
Reynolds, Jonathan G. Kimball, Rulon S. Wells and Joseph
W. McMurrin.

"In all other quorums of the high Priesthood," says
Elder Roberts in a foot-note to the History of the Church
(Vol. II., pp. 202, 204), "excepting the Twelve, the presi-
dency consists of a presidency and two counselors, but the
presidency of the quorum of Seventy consists of seven presi-
dents, equal in authority. For the sake of order, however,
precedence is recognized in seniority of ordination ; that is,
the senior president by ordination — not of age — presides in
the council, and over the quorum ; and in the event of his
absence, then the next senior president by ordination has the
right of initiative and presides, and so on down the line of
presidents. The order established in the Church for the
work: of the foreign ministry is for Elders to travel two and
two. This doubtless for the reason that the Lord would es-

202 OXi: HUXDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

tablish his word by the mouths of two witnesses at least, to
say nothing of the pleasure that would be derived from the
companionship subsisting between two Elders while travel-
ing among strangers, and even among enemies. A quorum
of Seventy, if sent out into the world as a body, is capable of
realizing all the advantages conceivable from organization.
It can be broken up into just seven groups of ten members;
with each group would be a president ; these groups can be
sub-divided into five pairs, who can scatter out into various
neighborhoods, occasionally meet in conference with the
group of ten to which the respective pairs belonged, and at
regular intervals, the several groups could be called together
for quorum conference. Thus a quorum of Seventy can be
a veritable flying column, making proclamation of the gos-
pel, the like of which is to be found nowhere outside the
Church of Christ."

The House of the Lord.

The Latter-day Saints have always been a great temple-
building people- — not of mere houses of worship, but holier
places, where the most sacred ordinances of the gospel may
be administered. In this respect, they are much like the an-
cient Jews and the Nephites.

The first temple built by the Saints in this Dispensation
was at Kirtland. In Dprf|mber^ L^^- ^'""^ Lord had said in a
r^vdation (section 88, verse 119) through the Prophet:
"Establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fast-
ing, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a
house of order, a house of God." Nearly six months later
another revelation (section 95) was given in which the
Saints were reproved for not iiaving "considered the great
commandment that I have given unto you concerning the
building of mine house." Under date of June Tst, the
Prophet speaks of the interest of the people in the proposed

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 203

building "continuing to increase," and of the "great prepara-
tions" that were making to erect the house of the Lord. Pre-
viously to this last date, however, a meeting of high priests
had been held at Kirtland in which the matter was consid-
ered, and a committee of three — Hyrum Smith, Jared Carter,
and Reynolds Gaboon — was appointed to obtain subscrip-
tions. A call for means, issued by this committee, was re-
sponded to very generously by the Saints, both at Kirtland
and at Zion. Another conference of the high priests, held on
June 6th, instructed the committee to proceed immediately
to make arrangements for building material. The corner
stones v,^ere laid on July;.^3 — the very day on which the
Saints in Missouri were preparing to leave Jackson county —
and the building was completed in March, 1836. In all. the
cost was about seventy-five thousand dollars.

The erectfon of such a building was a gigantic under-
taking for the Saints at that time. Most of them were poor,.,^
indeed, nearly all of them were. Heber C. Kimball, in
speaking of these days, says : "The Church was in a state
of poverty and distress, in consequence of which it appeared
almost impossible that the commandments [so far as related
to the building of the temple] could be fulfilled." But the
faith of the Saints was great, and they erected the house of
the Lord ; they were willing to make any sacrifice for the
gospel. The giving of means to any religious enterprise
when these are needed for personal requirements, is one of
the severest tests of faith. And these people, when thus
tried, were not found wanting.

But aside from their poverty, they were subjected to
constant annoyance from their enemies, during the progress
of the work on the temple. Elder Kimball, in the sentence
following the one we have just quoted, declares: "Our ene-
mies were raging and threatening destruction upon us, and
v.-o had to guard ourselves night after night, and for weeks

204

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

were not permitted to take off our clothes, and were obliged
to lay with our fire-locks in our arms." These things are
testified to also by Eliza R. Snow, who was a resident of
Kirtland all through these days. Had they not thus protect-
ed the building, the walls which they had put up during the
day would have" been torn down during the night. But not-
withstanding their poverty and distress, they completed the
structure which had been planned by the Lord himself, thus
exhibiting to all men the toil and sacrifice and privation
which they were willing to endure for the truth, and sancti-
fying that truth by their devotion and super-human exer-
tions.

This famous building has often been described. It stood
upon the most elevated spot of ground in the neighborhood,
a solemn and imposing guardian of that part of Northern
Ohio which borders on the Lake. The dimensions on the
outside were : length, eighty feet ; width, sixty feet ; height
to the square, fifty feet. A tower one hundred and ten feet
high surmounted the whole. The material of which it was
constructed was stone and brick. There were four vestries
in front, and five rooms in the attic. In the centre of the
main hall stood four pulpits, one above another, the seats
extending from north to south. Those on the west were to
be occupied by the presiding officers of the Melchisedek
priesthood ; those on the east, for the Aaronic. Each pulpit
was separable from the others by "curtains of white painted
canvas, which might be let down and drawn up at pleasure."
The four corners were to be occupied by the four divisions
of the choir, seated in elevated pews. The room might be
made into four, each with a pulpit and a choir, by drawing
curtains intersecting at right angles, .so that four meetings
could be held simultaneously without mutual disturbance.
This peculiar arrangement of the ground-floor, says Eliza R.
Srtnv. from whose writings we have taken the above details,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 305

"made it more than ordinarily impressive so much so that a
sense of awe seemed to rest upon all who entered ; not
only the Saints, but strangers also manifested a high degree
of reverential feeling." Well might these self-sacrificing
and devoted people feel proud of their sacred temple.

The dedicatory services and the blessings received at the
time and also afterwards on several occasions were of such a
glorious character as to make the Saints forget their diffi-
ciilties or to regard them as incomparably trifling.

At about seven o'clock on Sunday morning, March
27th, 1836, the people began to assemble for the dedication.
This was an hour before the doors were open, so eager were
the Saints to gain admittance. At eight o'clock the doors of
the temple were thrown open, and Presidents Smith, Rigdon,
and Cowdery seated the congregation as they entered. Be-
tween nine and ten htmdred were comfortably seated, and
there were hundreds yet outside. These latter repaired to an
adjacent school-house for the purpose of conducting other
services. "I felt to regret," says the Prophet in his journal,
with quiet tenderness and sympathy, "that any of my breth-
ren and sisters should be deprived of the meeting."

The assembly inside the temple was arranged in the
most orderly manner, the priesthood occupying their places
each according to his office, and the lay members in parts of
the house allotted to them. Services began at nine, by the
reading of the ninety-sixth and the twenty-fourth Psalm by
President Rigdon, who also offered the opening prayer and
preached the main discourse, taking as a text the twentieth
verse of the eighteenth chapter of Matthew. Joseph was
then sustained as Prophet and seer, by a rising vote, of the
priesthood first, each quorum in its turn, and then of the
whole congregation. An intermission of twenty minutes fol-
lowed. When the services were resumed, the Prophet made
a short address, after which the Presidency of the Church

•^00 ONE ItUXDRRD YEARS OF MORMONISM.

— Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick^. Williams
— were*^fstained as Prophets and Seers, and likewise the
Twelve, the Seventies, the high council, that in Zion as well
as that in Kirtland, the 15ishops of Kirtland and Zion, and
the Presidents of Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons.
The dedicatory prayer, which had been given the Prophet by
revelation (sec. 109), was then offered.

"President Frederick G. Williams," says Joseph, speak-
ing of that part of the services after the prayer, "arose and
testified that vv'hile President Rigdon was making his first
prayer, an angel entered the window and took his seat be-
tween Father Smith and himself, and remained there dur-
ing the prayer. President David Whitmcr also saw angels
in the house. President Hyrum Smith made some appro-
priate remarks congratulating those who had endured so
many toils and privations to build the house. President Rig-
don then made a few appropriate closing remarks, and a
short prayer, at the close of which we sealed the proceedings
of the day by shouting hosanna, hosanna, hosanna, to God
and the Lamb, three times, sealing it each time with amen,
amen, and amen. President Brigham Young gave a short
address in tongues, and David W. Patten interpreted, and
gave a short exhortation in tongues himself, after which I
blessed the congregation in the name of the Lord." Then
the assembly dispersed, having been there till past four
o'clock in the afternoon, and "having manifested," adds the
Prophet, "the most quiet demeanor during the whole exer-
cise."

In the evening the quorums of the priesthood met, to
the number of more than four hundred, for instruction in
the ordinance of washing of feet, practiced by the Savior and
his apostles. "Brother George A. Smith," we are informed
by the Prophet's history, "arose and began to prophesy,
when a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty

ONI-: IIUNDRF.D VKARS OF MORiMOXlSM. 1^07

wind, which filltd the Temple, and all the congregation sim-
ultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power;
many began to speak in tongues and prophesy ; others saw
glorious visions; and I beheld that the Temple was filled
with angels, which fact I declared to the congregation. The
people of the neighborhood came running together (hearing
an unusual sound within ; and seeing a bright light like a
pillar of fire resting upon the Temple), and were astonished
at \vhat was taking place." It was eleven o'clock when this
meeting was dismissed.

It may be interesting to recall the hymns that were sung
on this occasion and may add to our realization of the details
of the services. The first was one composed by Parley
P. Pratt, beginning: "Ere long the veil will rend in twain."
"O happy souls, who pray," the composition of William W.
Phelps ; "Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation," and
"This earth was once a garden place," by the same author,
were, sung at the first sessions, as also "How pleased and
blessed was I," by Watts. After the dedicatory prayer was
offered, that stirring hymn, the composition of Phelps, which
is still sung with great feeling in our meetings, "The Spirit
of God like a fire is burning" was rendered by the choir.

Other Visions in the Temple.

Passing by a great many manifestations of God's power
and goodness in visions, revelations, prophesyings, and
speaking in tongues to the elders and Saints generally in this
sacred house during the next few weeks, we come to one of
the most important visions ever vouchsafed to man, and one,
too, in which the comprehensiveness of the work of God is
revealed with astonishing clearness.

On Sunday, April 3d, of this same year, a meeting was
held in the temple. After the administration of the sacra-
ment of the Lord's supper, Joseph with Oliver Cowdery "re-

20S ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

tired to the plupit, the veils hcing dropped," and engaged in
solemn, silent prayer. They saw the Lord Jesus Christ
"standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before them,
and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold in color
like amber. His eyes were as a flame of fire, the hair of His
head was white like the pure snow, and His voice was as the
rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying —
I am the first and the last, I am he who liveth, I am he who

was slain, I am your advocate with the Father

T have accepted this house, and my name shall be here, and I
will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.
Yea, I will appear unto my servants, and speak unto them
with mine own voice, if my people will keep my command-
ments, and do not pollute this holy house."

After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened
unto them. Aloses appeared and bestowed upon them the
keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the
earth, and the leading of the Ten Tribes from the land of
the north. Then Elias appeared, and committed into their
hands the keys of the dispensation of the gospel of Abra-
ham, saying that in them and in their seed after them should
all generations be blessed. Next Elijah the Prophet, he who
was taken up without tasting death, stood before theni, and
delivered to them the keys by which the dead are redeemed
and all the generations of man linked together into one fam-
ily. This was he who should come before "the great and
dreadful day of the Lord" in order that the hearts of the
children might be turned to the fathers and those of the
fathers turned towards the children ; for if it were not so,
"the earth would be smitten with a curse."

Than this message of the Prophet Elijah's one can
scarcely point to anything more luminous upon the general
purposes of God with respect to man. In "the beginning''
the earth was created and man placed in his probationary

OXE HUNDRED VEARS OF MORMON" ISM. 209

sphere. Since then myriads of men liave hved and died here.
Now, the gospel was given to save man from sin. But how
many of these have received, or even lieard, the divine work?
Comparatively few. At the lowest figures, counting tlie
Christian people as being in possession of the gospel, only a
trifie over thirty-one per cent have obeyed this law of the
Lord. W'liat will become of these countless hosts? "Christi-
anity" has no answer. The most charitable view of the situa-
tion leaves the great majority of the race of man — God's
creatures — without salvation. In other words, man by a sin
gle thoughtless act — the fall — has frustrated the whole
scheme of salvation as devised by the great Jehovah ; for
Christ, as interpreted by modern religions, will miss the
larger portion of the human family. What a comment, this.
upon the wisdom, foresight, and justice, not to speak of the
merc\-. of the Almighty Father of men !

"Mormonism" reasons differently, and it does so in view
of this vision of Elijah's. All men will be judged by the law
of Christ in the gospel — there is no other. But in order to be
punished or rewarded according to this law. obviouslv they
must hear it and have their free agency to receive or reject
it as the guide of their lives whether here or hereafter. How
can every man hear the word, when so many of them have
died without hearing it? The spirit and the body are the
soul of man. This spirit is the immortal i)art ; that part,
namely, which thinks and feels and wills. At death, which
is merely a separation of the body from the spirit, this eter-
nal part goes into ''Paradise," where it will have the law
preached and where, having its free agency, it may adhere to
or refuse the truth. Jesus, for instance, entered Paradise, in
which were the antedeluvians to whom Noah preached, and
taught these spirits the same gospel which he had laid dow n
his life for here, "that they nn'ght be judged like men in the

flesh, but live like Cod in the spirit." Rut, how are f''^.'-e
14

210 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

persons, supposing they choose to live according to the high-
er law, to be saved without some ordinances of the gospel
which we are taught here are indispensable to our salvation
— such, for example as baptism? The rites are performed
for them by those in the flesh — just as Christ died for us be-
cause we were unable to die efficaciously for ourselves. The
spirits in the world of spirits, then, have the privilege and
the power to accept the gospel there, while those yet in the
flesh perform all the necessary ordinances for them which
they cannot perform for themselves ; and this is the meaning
of Elijah's message to Joseph the Prophet. Thus God's plan
is not, after all, so narrow as to miss the vast majority of
his creatures; but each will be saved in the degree of glory
that his conduct, influenced by the atoning blood of Jesus,
will merit. A transcendently sublime and light-radiating
thought, which harmonizes all the contradictions that man
has imagined he detected in His purposes, but that were con-
tradictions only in the interpretations of God's plan given
out by an apostate church !

CHAPTER VII.

THE PLACE OF THE JUDGMENT SEAT.

A Peaceful Exodus.

Their resources for the redemption of Zion having; been ex-
hausted, the Missouri Saints now began to look about them
for a new home. Under ordinary conditions, they would
have had little call, as home-seekers, to look beyond the lim-
its of this northern county ; for at that time its uneven but
fertile surface of more than four hundred square miles was
sparsely inhabited and would have afforded ample accom-
modations for the entire body of "Mormons" both here and
in Ohio. Rut the Saints were not in Clay county under or-
dinary conditions. They were a peculiar people, poor on the
whole, but not because they lacked industry and enterprise,
with a religion and habits of thought and life extremely ob-
noxious to their neighbors. Besides there was a tacit under-
standing between them and their newly-found friends, made
at the time they were expelled from the southern county,
that they would remain there only until they had recovered
their former homes; and in the event of their failing to do
this, they would remove to another place. And nothing in
the conduct of the "Mormons" can be construed as an inten-
tion to violate the terms of this implied compact. Mean-
while their Jackson county foes, with malignant hate singu-
larly relentless, pursued them into the very precincts of
friendship which they had established with their temporary
protectors and which their enemies now sought to poison.
So that by the middle of the year 1836. a general sentiment
against the Saints had been aroused in Clay county, and it
became necessary for them to find another place of settle-

212 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

ment, after havinc^ remained there for about tv/o and a half
years.

It is quite pro]:>able that if the "^Mormons'" had not at
this time indicated their purpose of leaving, and if, more-
over, there had not been some honorable men here to c;;uide
public sentiment — something which had been woefully lack-
ing in Jackson county, — they would have been again forc-
ibly expelled. At a meeting held in June, 1834, at Liberty,
for the purpose of arbitrating the differences between the
Saints and their Jackson enemies, one Samuel Owens made
an inflammatory address against the exiles, to which, how-
ever, General Doniphan replied counseling peace. A reverend
gentleman, also, by the name of Riley, a Baptist preacher,
declared that the "Mormons" had lived in Clay county long
enough, and that they "must either clear out, or be cleared
out." Whereupon, the chairman of the meeting, Mr. Thur-
man, said:

"Let us be republicans, let us honor our country, and
not disgrace it like Jackson county. For God's sake don't
disfranchise the Mormons. They are better citizens than
many of the old inhabitants."

"That's a fact," shouted General Doniphan, jumping to
his feet ; "and as the Mormons have armed themselves," he
continued in reference to Zion's camp which was then on the
way to Missouri, "if they don't fight they are cowards."

The meeting broke up without accomplishing anything.
Another meeting was held at the same place in June, 1836,
at which a report was adopted demanding the fulfillment of
the pledge which the "Mormons" had given when they came,
to leave the county "whenever a respectable portion of the
citizens should request it." The document made the usual
objections to the new religionists: They had such a differ-
ent faith from other people ; "they were eastern men, wliose
r "ivers, habits, customs, and even dialect were essentially

ONE HUNDKliD YliARS OF MORMON ISM. ^I'.l

different from the Alissourians ;'" they were non-slave hold-
ers ; and, besides, it was commonly reported that they held
constant communication with the Indians. "We do not
vouch for the correctness of these statements," continued the
report, "but whether they are true or false, the effect has
been the same in exciting our community."' It was therefore
imanimously resolved, that "unless the people commonly
called Mormons will agree to stop immediately the immigra-
tion of their people to this country, and take measures to re-
move themselves from it, a civil war is inevital)le." The report
went on to say: "We do not contend that we have the least
right under the Constitution and laws of the country, to ex-
pel them by force. But we would indeed be blind, if we did
not foresee that the first blow that is struck at this moment
of deep excitement must and will speedily involve every in-
dividual in war, bearing ruin, woe, and desolation in its
course. It matters but little how, where or by whom the war
may begin, when the work of destruction commences, we
must all be borne onward by the storm, or crushed beneath
its fury." ,

On the first of July following, the Saints held a mass
meeting, at which they formed a reply to the report adopted
at the non-" Mormon" meeting. They expressed their ap-
preciation of the kindness they had received at the hands of
the Clay county inhabitants, but denied specifically the
charges made against them in the report. They had never
been disposed to interfere with slavery, and had always held
themselves as ready as any one to defend the country from
Indian attacks. "For the sake of friendship," continued
their answer, "and to be in a covenant of peace with the
citizens of Clay county, and they to be in a covenant of peace
with us, notwithstanding the necessary loss of property and
expense we incur in moving, we comply with the requisitions

214 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

of their resolutions in leaving the county of Clay and that we
will use our exertions to have the Church do the same."

In striking- contrast with the conduct of the people of
Jackson county after an almost similar agreement, the inhab-
itants of Clay, through their committee, tendered the mi-
grating Saints any assistance which was in their power to
give. They would help them to select a suitable location,
they would recommend them to the generous treatment of
counties adjacent to that in which they should settle, and
they would render them any material aid they could. Ac-
cordingly, two persons from each township were appointed to
raise means by subscription to aid such of the "Mormons" as
might be in need of assistance. As soon as possible after
this agreement, the Saints began to make preparations to
leave the county. The first companies moved in September,
and by the following spring almost no Saints were to be
found in Clay.

The New Home.

Immediately to the north-east of Clay county was a wild and
practically uninhabited prairie, whose wooded streams af-
forded ample haunts for droves of elk and other wild game.
At this time it was part of Ray county, which had been cre-
ated in 1820. Bee-hunters and Indians were then almost the
only human beings to be found there, for scarcely half a
dozen men had arisen above the prejudice of the ordinary
Alissourian of that day against the prairie lands, and dared
to hazard his prospects by settling in the new county. Nev-
ertheless, it was one of the most favorable parts of Upper
Missouri, not only for its fertility, but also for the variety of
its products.

Already, however, William W. Phelps had looked over
the country and written a description of it to the brethren at
Kirtland. This it was, together with the suggestions of

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. ^15

some of the leading men in Clay county, that first induced
the "Mormon" exiles to think of it as a desirable home. Fur-
ther deliberation on the subject had revealed its really invit-
ing prospects. The hitherto vexatious Gentile would not be
likely to disturb them here, for the prairie was universally
looked upon as too cold in the wanter and too hot in the sum-
mer for comfortable living; and as there w^ere only a few set-
tlers in the whole of that country, they would be alone.
They could have a county of their own; they would have
their own officials, and no one would disturb, or be disturbed
by, their isolation. The Saints were therefore perfectly sat-
isfied, and the Gentiles looked upon this plan as the only so-
lution of the "Mormon" problem.

In December, Xi^6, the county of Caldwell was created,
and at the same time that of TTaviess just north of it, both
out of what had been Ray county. The former was named
for an Indian scout, Matthew Caldwell, a friend of General
Doniphan's father ; and the latter for Col. Joseph H. Daviess,
also an acquaintance of Mr. Doniphan's. This friendly Gen-
eral and former attorney for the "Mormons" introduced in-
to the legislature the bill organizing these two counties,
which was passed without nmch opposition. The duty of
choosing a seat for each county was assigned to Joseph Bax- _
ter and Cornelius Gillium, the former of Clinton, the latter
of Ray. It was not the intention, as some have tried to make
out, that no Gentiles should settle there, though it was rath-
er doubtful if many, under the circumstances, would do so.
Nor was there any agreement, either expressed or implied,
between the "Mormons" and the non-"Mormons" in the
country that the former would not settle in any other coun-
ty without first obtaining the consent of the inhabitants al-
ready there. ,

So the Saints entered upon their task of home making
with great energy and enthusiasm. It was not long, there-

210 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONTSM.

fore, till this section of Upper Missouri, under the well-
organized efforts of the "Mormon" settlers, assumed an as-
])ect of activity and progress of which much older communi-
ties might be justly proud. The people establishou them-
selves, at first, chiefly "'""riSlViTa^ ^»-^.i- a tributary of the
Grandj.^ but subsequently they pushed out into different
parts of Caldwell county. They eventually made settlements
in Daviess county and in Carroll county, just north of the
Missouri near the junction of the Grand with this river.
The principal town in the former county was Adam-ondi-
Ahman, of which we shall say more in another section; i:i
the latter county the settlement was named De Witt. Some
of the Saints found homes at Millport and Gallatin, both in
Daviess county. But the chief town, as also the county seat
of Caldwell, was Far West. Mills were constructed, stores
and schools established, and large parts of the country thu •
settled thickly studded with private dwellings. Most of th:.
people, of course, were poor, in consequence very largely of
the mobbings to which they had submitted, and many of
them were compelled to seek employment in other counties
in order to support their families. But they all looked for-
ward hopefully to a prosperous supremacy in the vicinity of
the place where Adam dwelt.

Far West.

The city Qf_£fltiiifi§LJ^^c^"''^ at once the principal settlemeiit
of the "Mormon" community, the county seat of the new-
county, and the headquarters of the Church. It was situated
on, Shoal Creek north-west of what is now Kingston,
the present county seat of Caldwell. "Let the city. Far
West," said the Lord in a revelation (section 115) given the
Prophet in April, 1838, "be a holy and consecrated land unto
me, for the ground upon which thou standest is holy." We
shall see presently why this was so. The idea which con-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONTSM. 217

trolled in laying out the town was doubtless a suggestion
from the plat for the city of Zion, in Jackson county. Orig-
inally it was one square mile in extent, but was later extend-
ed to two. In the centre was set apart a large public square
approachable by four streets, one hundred and thirty-two
feet wide, running to it from the cardinal points of the com-
pass. The streets crossed one another at right angles, and all
of them except these four main roads were eighty-two and
one half feet in width. The blocks thus created contained
four acres. The growth of. the town was naturally very
rapid. By the middle of^ i838_tliere were one hundred and
fifty private dwellings, seven stores, six blacksmith shops,
two hotels, and a printing house prepared to issue a Church
periodical. An attenipl.liad--b£eiL-niade to. have established
Jhergja^saloon, but the proposition was quickly nipped in the
bud at a meeting of the high council. The houses at first
were log cabins, but later frame buildings made their appear-
ance. Itjs__wprth noting that the first public building erected
in the city was a school house, which, for a time, was used
also for court house, town hall, and churc'n.

In the revelation from which we have just quoted (section
115) the Lord commanded the Saints to build a temple "that
they might worship him." A beginning was to be made on
the 4th of July, 1838, work was to go on gradually without
involving the Church authorities in debt until, "from the
corner stone to the top thereof, there should not anything
remain unfinished." We shall have more to say hereafter on
this subject. ,

Adam-ondi-Ahman.

In ^gy, .1838,.. about three months after the arrival of the
Prophet Joseph at Far West, he and a number of the breth-
ren journeyed northward from the city, for the purpose of
inspecting the country with a view to establishing settle-

218 OXE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

ments between there and Tower Hill inJDaYJess county
twenty-five or thirty miles distant. Lvman Wight, it seems,
and a few others had already found themselves a home at
Tower Hill and vicinity, on the Grand. Passing Wight's
house — which, by the way is still standing — Joseph with
Sidney Rigdon and George W. Robinson ascended the river
for about half a mile. Here they found a deep bend in the
stream in which was a high ridge rising abruptly from the
banks at the point of the curve, with another ridge just north
of, and parallel with it, leaving a valley between varying in
width from fifty to a hundred yards. The name given to
this first elevation was Spring Hill, but Joseph changed the
name to Adam-ondi-Ahman, having been instructed of the
Lord concerning the significance of this place.

Diahman, as it was commonly known to the Saints of
that day, is a sacred spot by reason of the past as well as of
the future. "Three years previous to the death of Adam,"
the Lord had declared to Joseph as early as March, 1835, in
a revelation (section 107) on priesthood, "he called Seth,
Enos, Cainan. Mahalalecl, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah.who
Were all Lligh Priests, with the residue of his posterity who
were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and
there bestowed upon them his last blessing. And the Lord
appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and
called him Michael, the Prince, the Archangel. And the
Lord administered comfort unto Adam, and said unto him,
I have set thee to be at the head — a multitude of nations
shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever.
And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation, and
notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of
the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his pos-
terity unto the latest generation." So much for the past:
the future is still more important and striking. Adam-ondi-
Ahman, according to another revelation (section 116) given

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 219

on this very occasion that the Prophet viewed the spot,"is the
place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the An-
cient of Days sit." to judge mankind. This imposing scene
of the judgment seat is described by Daniel the prophet in
these lofty strains : "I beheld till the thrones were cast
down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was
white as snow and the hair of his head like the pure wool.
His throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels a burnmg
fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him.
Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand
times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was

set, and the books were opened And there

was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations, and languages, should serve him. His do-
minion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass
away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."

Returning to Tower Hill, the Prophet called a council
of the brethren "to know whether it was wisdom to go im-
mediately into the north country, or tarry hereabout, to se-
cure land on Grand river." They decided that they would
endeavor to occupy the land between Diahman and Far
West. And the company returned home.

In June following a stake organization was eflfected at
Diahman with John Smith as president and Reynolds Ca-
hooji and Lyman Wight as counselors. A high council was
also chosen and organized. Subsequently a company of be-
tween five and six hundred Saints from Kirtland located here
in a body, so that there grew up on this sacred ground con-
siderable of a population.

Some Needful Pruning.

Unfortunately, at this time when the Church was in a critical
state, just recovering from the effects of persecution, both
at Kirtland and at Missouri, and also of settling in a new

220 ONE iiuNURi;ii yi:ars of moumonism,

country, aiul just as it was about to enter upon another and
more critical stage of its career, there occurred the largest
and most singular apostasy of prominent men in its entire
history. Of the falling away that occurred in Ohio we
shall speak in another chapter. We are concerned at present
only with that which took place at Far West. The presi-
dency of the Church in Missouri, two of the three special
witnesses, and three of the twelve apostles were excommuni-
cated from the Chruch in Zion alone at this period.

For some time, Daxid^Wliitiiier, John Whitmer, and
William W. Phelps, had been acting as the Presidency of the
Missouri Saints. But they had not given satisfaction in this
capacity either to the other prominent brethren there — some
of whom were Apostles — or to the Saints generally. In Feb-
ruary, 1838, they were summoned to appear before a council
of the priesthood, which they refused, however, to do, on
the grounds that, being a local organization, it had no right
to try a presidency of the Church, who should be tried in-
stead by the presiding bishopric of the Church. This was,
of course, a misapprehension of their position, for theirs also
was a local office ; hence this council had a perfect right to
proceed as it did in the case. This body of priesthood, after
careful deliberation on the subject, decided that Phelps and
John Whitmer were in transgression, and as they showed no
disposition to repent, but instead persisted in their wrong-
doing, they were cut off the Church. Phelps returned to the
Church while the Saints occupied Nauvoo and subsequently
came to Utah ; Whitmer died outside the fold. ,

In April, of this same year, Elder Seymour Brunson
preferred nine charges against Oliver Cowdery, six of which
were sustained by the high council which tried the case April
.jitli. The charges that were sustained are as follow^s : "( i)
Persecuting the brethren by urging on vexatious law suits
against them, and thus distressing the innocent; (2) seeking

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 221

to destroy the character of President Joseph Smith, Jun., by
falsely insinuating that he was guihy of aduUery; (3)
treating the Church with contempt by not attending meet-
ings; (4) leaving his calling to which God had appointed
him, for the sake of filthy lucre, and turning to the practice
of. Jaw; (5) disgracing the Church by being connected in
the bogus business, as common report sa3's; and (6) dis-
honestly retaining notes after they had been paid." The other
three charges concerned temporal matters. Oliver wrote the
council a letter, in which he chose, for some reason, to an-
swer the charges that they had dismissed, without referring
to the others except to say that he ''laid them carefully
away." He therefore asked "to v»-ithdraw from a society
assuming" to control his temporal affairs. "I beg you sir,"
he concluded, "to take no view of the foregoing remarks,
other than my belief in the outward government of the
Church. I do not charge you, or any other person who dif-
fers with me on these points, of not being sincere, but such
difiference does exist, which I sincerely regret." And his
name was erased from the books. Later, while the Saints
were on their way to the West, Cowdery returned to the
Church, dying shortly afterwards. ,

Next came David Whitmer. The charges lodged
against him wxre: "(i) Not observing the word of wisdom :
(2) unchristianlike concKict in neglecting to attend meetings,
in uniting with and possessing the same spirit as the dis-
senters; (3) writing letters to the dissenters in Kirtland mi-
favorable to the cause, and to the character of Joseph Smith,
Jun. ; (4) neglecting the duties of his calling, and separat-
ing himself frofn the Church, while he had a name among
us; and (5) signing himself 'President of the Church of
Christ' in an insulting letter to the high council after he had
been cut ofif from the Presidency." These charges, how-
ever, were not discussed at the meeting of the council, which

222 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

was held April 13th, for the reason that David wrote them a
letter, in which he refused to "acknowledg-e the correctness
and le^^ality of those former couDcils" and declared his in-
tentions to "withdraw from their fellowship and commun-
ion." Acting on this communication, the council decided
that "the charges were sustained, and consequently consid-
ered David Whitmer no longer a member of the Church of
T.atter-day Saints." He never rejoined "Mormonism."

Tt is worthy of notice that neither of these witnesses to
the divinity of the Book of Mormon even hint a denial of
their testimony, nor indeed of any foundational doctrine of
the Church. The real cause of their leaving the organiza-
tion was insubordination to the authority of the priesthood.
David Whitm.er always believed that the council which ex-
communicated him was legally incompentent to try the case.

On the same day that Whitmer was cut off the Church,
cliargcs were preferred against Lyman E. Johnson, one of
the apostles. What these were we are not informed. The
council, after reading and discussing them as also a letter re-
ceived from him, excommunicated him from the society. He
died outside the Church.

Later than this — in October, 1838 — when excitement
ran high against the "Mormons" in Missouri. Thomas B,.
Marsh, president of the quorum of twelve apostles, who
"had been lifted up in pride by his exaltation to office and the
revelations of heaven concerning him. until he was ready to
be overthrown by the first advprse wind that should cross his
track." went before a justice of the peace in Ray county and
testified to some of the false charges so frequently repeated
against the Prophet and the Church in those days. "I have
heard the Prophet say." he declared among other absurd
things, "that he would yet tread down his enemies,
and walk over their dead bodies: and if he was
not let alone, he would be a second Mohammed to this

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 323

generation and that he would make it one gore
of blood from the Rocky mountains to the Atlan-
tic ocean." Orson ^ Hyde^. also an apostle, declared, un-
der afifidavit, that "most of the statements in the forego-
ing disclosure he knew to be true ; the remainder he believed
to be true." Since these assertions were altogether false and
a misrepresentation of the existing conditions at Far West,
these men were condemned by the Church. Marsh was ex-
communicated and Hyde disfellowshiped. The former,
years afterwards, returned to the Church which he had so
grossly injured and belied, dying at Ogden in obscurity; the
latter, after confession and reparation, was forgiven and re-
stored to his fellowship and to his quorum. It ought to be
added here that President Taylor, who was intimately ac-
quainted with conditions at Far West, and whose integrity
no one will question, declares positively that he knew the
things spoken of in these affidavits to be untrue, "How do
you account for their acts?" he asks, and replying to his
own question, he answers : "Only on the score of the weak-
ness of our common humanity. We were living in troublous
times, and all men's nerves are not proof against such shocks
as we then had to endure."

The National Birthday.

July 4th, 1838, was celebrated at Far West by a procession
and general exercises. It was also the day fixed by a revela-
tion for the laying of the corner stones of the temple on the
public square. The Saints on this day also took occasion
through their orator to declare themselves free "from all
mobs and persecutions."

The Prophet was chosen president of the day ; Plyrum
Smith, vice-president; Sidney Rigdon, orator; Reynolds Ga-
boon, chief marshal, with George M. Hickle and J. Hunt as
assistants ; and George W. Robinson, clerk. At ten o'clock

224 ON'K HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMON ISM.

the procession bcg'an. First came the infantry (State
militia), next tlie patriarchs of the Church, followed by the
president, vice-president, and orator of the day, the leading
("hiircli officials, the architects, the general public, and the
cavalry. There was abundant music during the march. Ar-
riving at the public square, a circle, with the ladies in front,
was formed round the temple excavations. The corner
stones were then laid according to the usual order in the
Church, after which President Rigdon delivered his ora-
tion.

In view of the bearing which this speech had on subse-
(|uent events connected with "Mormon" history in Missouri,
and in view also of the criticism which it has elicited from
non-"Mormon" writers, it is proper that we should say
something further on the subject. The address, no doubt,
contained the sentiments of other leading men and the Saints
generally as well as those of the orator ; for it appeared in
Tlic Par IVcsf, a periodical published at Liberty, Clay coun-
ty, and also issued from the press of the Elders' Journal in
pamphlet form. P>ut ex])ressed in the naturally intemperate
diction of Sidney Rigdon on a day when the American mind
involuntarily turns to thoughts of freedom and human
rights, the oration gave great "ofTence" to the overnice keep-
ers of the Missouri conscience, ever on the alert to grasp at
the slightest occasion that promised to make a "Mormon" an
offender for a word.

And, indeed, this foiu'th of July speech was full of un-
necessary fire. "Our checks," declared the orator, "have
been given to the smiters — our licads to those who have
])lucked off the hair. We have not only when smitten on one
cheek turned the other, but we have done it again and again,
until we are wearied of being smitten, and tired of being
trampled upon." He took God and angels to witness that
they would suffer these things no more without resistance,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 325

and so warned all men. "We will never be the aggressors,"
He went on, "we will infringe on the rights of no people, but
shall stand for our own until death." But the passage that
gave most offence, is this : "The mob that comes on us to
disturb us, it shall be between us and them a war of exter-
mination ; for we will follow them until the last drop of their
blood is spilled, or else they will have to exterminate us, for 11
we will carry the seat of war to their own houses and their
own families, and one party or the other shall be utterly de-
stroyed." While it would be difficult altogether to justify
tfie strong language of this address, still the impartial his-
torian will view it in the light of the occasion on which it
was delivered and the sufferings which the Saints had en-
dured, patiently enough, at the hands of violent and unprin-
cipled men in Jackson county, together with the criminal in-
difference of both State and county officials in the matter of
returning them to their homes. But it would mortally
wound the sensitive feelings of our critics if we were to offer
the slightest palliation of so grave a sin, most of all to sug-
gest that the expression of these sentiments by the "Mor-
mons" is less of a crime than the acting out of unspeakably
worse sentiments by the mobs of Upper Missouri, legalized
into state troops by the infamous Boggs.

Thus the Saints, augmented every month, during 1837
and 1838, by members of the Church from Ohio, the various
States of the Union, and Canada, set to with joyful labor to
build for themselves a new home, till by the fall of the lat-
ter year nearly the whole body of the Church was located in
Caldwell and Daviess counties, the place of the judgment
seat. But already their energy and rapid progress were be-
ginning to excite suspicion in the hearts of jealous neighbors,
which, united by unscrupulous treachery from within the
Church, was to accomplish untold hardship and privation for
this most unpopular denomination,

15

CHAPTER VIII.

TRAITORS AND FRIENDS.

While these things were happening at Far West, events in
the Ohio town were hastening to a crisis. From a spiritual
calm in the bosom of the Church at Kirtland, such as men
have rarely been the recipients of in mortality, the sacred
places of the Saints, by reason of a worldly ambition in sev-
eral of the leading brethren, became scenes of turbulence
and hate.

The Ascendency of the Temporal.

In November, 1836, there was organized, under the advice
of the Prophet, what was called the "Kirtland Safety So-
ciety"— an institution which was intended by its founder to
be of great benefit to the Saints, but which, owing to the
counsel of men less far-sighted than he, proved the spiritual
undoing of many leading elders and also of the Saints. Its
articles of agreement, drawn up and adopted the following
January, provided for a capital of four million dollars, to be
divided into shares of fifty dollars each. The management
was to consfst of thirty-two stockholders, chosen annually,
who were to meet twice a year. A committee of seven, se-
lected by the "managers" from among themselves, was to
"inquire into and assist in all matters" pertaining to the com-
pany. Oliver Cowdery had already been sent to Philadelphia
to procure plates for the "bank," and Orson Hyde to Colum-
bus, Ohio, with a petition to the legislature for an act of in-
corporation. The latter, however, returned unsuccessful, for
the State law-makers had refused to grant the "Mormons"
banking privileges "which they so freely granted to others."

ONE liUNDkED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 221

The "bank" nevertheless, did business without a charter, but
the venture proved a failure. Deposits were made ; large
sums of money in notes were floated on too small an actual
capital ; unwise counsels, growing out of too meagre a busi-
ness experience, prevailed; jealousies arose among those
who had the management of the institution. And so it
failed before it got fairly established.

The secret of its downfall, however, was not any nor all
of these things. It was more deep-seated than that. During
the two or three years preceding the administration of Mr.
\'an Buren there occurred a reckless spirit of speculation
throughout the United States, "which was fostered and en-
couraged by excessive banking, and the consequent expan-
sion of paper currency beyond all the legitimate wants of the
country." The crash came when debts were to be paid, notes
to be collected and paper money redeemed. This was in
l^lZt "During the months of March and April of this year
the failures in New York city alone amounted to over one
hundred million dollars. The state of aflfairs became so dis-
tressing that petitions were sent to the President from sev-
eral quarters, and a deputation of merchants and bankers of
New York waited upon him in person" soliciting him to de-
fer the immediate collection of duties and to call an extra
session of Congress. Bank failures were common through-
out the Union, east and west. ,

In this financial whirlpool the Saints were caught.
At the end of the comparatively immense drain on their
means by the temple, and the situation at Kirtland had been
relieved, there succeeded a period of prosperity. Specula-
tion became rife not only w^ith the lower officers of the
Church, but also with some members of the twelve.
Every quorum of the priesthood was more or less
infected. For a time the people felt themselves rich.
They borrowed money to invest in business. Mercantile as-

228 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

tablishments and mills sprang up on borrowed capital.
Farms were bought at high prices. The desire for fine
clothes and fine homes was indulged. In 1837, the reckon-
ing time came to Kirtland as it came to the nation at large,
and there followed a period of heavy depression.

Threatened Disintegration.

Meantime there had grown iip bitter jealousies, in the
Church, chiefly out of this financial trouble. Some one had
to be blamed for the downfall of the "Society," and who, de-
clared some of the bankrupt brethren, so likely as its foun-
der. Joseph had by this time resigned his office of treasurer.
On his shoulders, therefore, was shifted the whole weight of
responsibility for its failure. Not mismanagement, but mis-
appropriation of funds, was echoed from mouth to mouth
among the disgruntled. About this time Joseph fell sick,
and his recovery was for a time despaired of. This was
pointed out by enemies as the judgment of God for his sins.
The cry of "Fallen Prophet!" was everywhere heard. Men
turned apostates on all hands, till the very existence of the
Church was threatened. No one until the test came knew
who was his friend. Joseph's life became unsafe, as well as
the lives of those who took his part.

Many there were who, in those days, fell by the way-
side. Frederick G. Williams, Joseph's second counselor in
the Presidency of the Church ; William E. M'Lellin, the two
Johnsons, John F. Boynton, and Parley P. Pratt, all mem-
bers of the quorum of twelve ; Warren Parish, clerk to the
Prophet, and many others, whom it is not important to
name, were among the disaffected. We have already seen
that the movement spread to Missouri, sweeping along in its
current such men as Phelps, David and John Whitmer, and
Oliver Cowdery. Some of these men, seeing their error, re-
pented and sought forgiveness. Among these were Parley

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 229

P. Piatt, John F. Boynton, and Lyman E. Johnson. The
latter two, however, soon fell back into their old ways and
spirit. Apostle Pratt, when he perceived the light, went to
the Prophet in tears and confessed his errors, and the latter
"frankly forgave and blessed him."

As the apostates contended that Joseph had fallen, it
followed that they supposed themselves the true Church. An
organization was effected. A young woman, living at David
Whitmer's, was prophetess to the new party, and her scribe
was no less a person than Dr. Williams, former counselor to
Joseph. The seceders claimed the temple, and sought by
every means to wrest it out of the possession of the Church.
Disputes were frequent between the contending parties in
the very rooms of this sacred edifice where so many glorious
manifestations of the divine presence had occurred. Once
Father Smith was preaching. In the course of his remarks,
he cast some reflections upon the conduct of Warren Parish
in relation to the "Safety Society Bank," at which the latter
became highly incensed, although the reflections were per-
fectly just. Parish dragged the old gentleman out of the
pulpit. The aged patriarch appealed to Oliver Cowdery,
who was a justice of the peace. But OHver retained his seat.
W'hereupon William Smith came to the rescue of his father ;
but while he was carrying Parish bodily out of the house,
Boynton sprang forward, with drawn sword, and threatened
Smith's life. So much stronger apparently was the apostate
party that the rest dared not prevent such a scene in the
house of God.

But it was not only from within that the Prophet and
those of his brethren who remained firm to the truth, re-
ceived violence. The non-"Mornion" element in the neigh-
borhood, when they found the Church rent by schism, came
forward to add to the confusion and strife. During the time
of tlic evident prosperity which we have referred to in con-

230 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

nection with the bank, many of the Saints had become in-
volved in debt. Wherever, therefore, it was possible for a
Gentile creditor who was under the spell of the apostates, to
plant a suit against a "Mormon" debtor of the opposite par-
ty, he was not slow to do so. In this way whatever property
belonging to the latter was seizable, was soon taken. The
faithful ones were seized on other pretexts than debt.
Father Smith was arrested at the instigation of his one-time
finends, on the trifling charge of performing a marriage
ceremony without a license, and narrowly escaped impris-
onment.

So serious an aspect did this opposition take on, from
without and from within the Church, that the Prophet to-
wards the end of the year 1837, considered his life in danger.
So he determined to flee to Missouri. "One evening," says
his mother in her biography of her son, "before finishing his
preparations for the contemplated journey, he sat in council
with the brethren at our house. After giving them direc-
tions as to what he desired them to do, while he was absent
from them, and, as he was about leaving the room, he said,
'Well, brethren, one thing is certain, I shall see you again,
let what will happen, for I have a promise of life five years,
and they cannot kill me until that time is expired.' " That
midnight — it was January, 1838 — he and his family, with
barely enough clothes and bedding and an insulificient
amount of provisions, took their departure from
Kirtland for Missouri, in company with President Rigdon.
Joseph and Sidney rode on horseback. The weather was ex-
tremely cold, and very often they had to sleep in the wagons.
For two hundred miles from Kirtland they were pursued by
their enemies, who had somehow got wind of their escape.
"They frequently crossed our track," declares the Prophet,
"twice they were in the houses where we stopped, once we
tarried all night in the same house with them, with only a

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 231

partition between us and them ; and heard their oaths and
imprecations, and threats concerning us. if they could catch
us ; and late in the evening they came in to our room and ex-
amined us, but decided we were not the men. At other times
we passed them in the streets, and gazed upon them, and
they on us, but they knew us not." At Dublin, Indiana, the
Prohpet "sought for a job at cutting and sawing wood to
relieve his necessities." Afterwards a Brother Tomlinson
sold some property and gave Joseph the proceeds — three
hundred dollars — which enabled him to continue his journey.
He reached Far West in February, where he was greeted by
warm hearts on every hand.

But the Prophet Joseph, during these gloomy days, had
his defenders. There were men and women at Kirtland
whom nothing could turn against him. They had known
him for years in his private and his public life, and having
no ulterior motive to serve, clung to him with the strongest
cords of attachment. Eagerly would they have given the
final test of friendship, so sure were they of his upright
character and the truth of his prophetic claims.

One of these was Brig'ham Young. Once, upon discov-
ering a plot to waylay Joseph while the latter was on his way
to Kirtland from Monroe, Michigan, Brigham obtained a
carriage, invited William Smith to join him, and went to
meet the Prophet determined to frustrate the wicked designs
of the apostates. When these three met, Joseph took his
brother's place in the buggy, while William took Joseph's
seat in the stage-coach ; and thus through Brother Young's
thoughtful actions was an evil purpose defeated and the
Prophet probably saved from harm. On another occasion
several of the malcontents had met in an upper room of the
temple for the purpose of devising means of displacing the
prophet Joseph as President of the Church and securing the
office for David Whitmer. Brigham was in attendance. T^ui-

233 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

ing the course of the discussion he arose and, with character-
istic boldness, assured them that Joseph was not a "fallen
prophet," and he knew it. They must not think that they
could destroy the Prophet's character and overturn his di-
vine appointment by slander and vituperation. Their secret
meetings and their plottings would prove their own spiritual
ruin and send them speedily to their doom in hell. One
Jacob Bump, a former pugilist, said excitedly, "How can I
keep my hands off that man?" But the intrepid Brigham
calmly replied that if "it would give him any relief he "might
lay them on!" Subsequently, however, so bold did these
men become that Brother Young's life was in peril ; and he
escaped to Missouri. This was before Joseph's departure
for that place.

Another of the Prophet's defenders was the late IJf,S§i^
dent John Taylor, then a new convert only recently come
from Canada. He had come to Kirtland to meet Joseph. At
one of the Sunday meetings held in the temple, Warren Par-
ish fiercely denounced the absent Prophet. It was a great
trial for those who retained their integrity to sit there and
have to listen to such abusive language concerning their
leader, and that, too, in the very temple of God. But appar-
ently no one dared to say a word for the Prophet, so sure
was Parish of a large sympathy in the audience. Nearly all
the leading men who were faithful had fled for safety. Sud-
denly John Taylor, then a comparative stranger, arose and
asked permission to speak, which was granted. He called
attention to the great work which Joseph had done in reveal-
ing truths that the world would never have known otherwise,
"Whence," he asked, "do we get our intelligence, and knowl-
edge of the laws, ordinances and doctrines of the kingdom
of God? Who understood even the first principles of the
doctrines of Christ? Who in the Christian world taught
Tm? If we, with our learning and intelligence, could not

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 233

find out the first principles, which was the case with myself
and ni^lions of others, how can we find out the mysteries of
the kingdom? It was Joseph Smith, under the Almighty,
who developed the first principles, and to him we must look
for further instructions. If the spirit which he manifests
does not bring blessings, I am very much afraid that the one
manifested by those who have spoken, will not be very likely
to secure them. The children of Israel, formerly, after see-
ing the power of God manifested in their midst, fell into re-
bellion and idolatry, and there is certainly very great danger
of us doing the same thing."

In this voice, which was destined to be raised so fre-
quently in later years in defense of the truth, the timid but
true friends of Joseph present at this meeting, recognized a
powerful bulwark for the Prophet and the word of God. At
about the same time. Parley P. Pratt who had been instru-
mental in the conversion of Taylor, but who was now "pass-
ing through a cloud," approached the latter one day and
would turn him away. But the future President of the
Church was too independent and too thoroughly imbued
with the spirit of the Restoration to be thus moved. He ex-
pressed his surprise that his spiritual father should have so
suddenly changed. "Now, Brother Parley," said this new
disciple with a firmness that must have shaken the hitherto
staunch Apostle in his mistaken course, "it is not man that I

am following, but the Lord If the work was

true six months ago, it is true today ; if Joseph Smith was
then a prophet, he is now a prophet."

But there were many others, only less conspicuous than
these two, who stood up boldly for Joseph and the truth. "I
was pained on the one hand," said Elder Taylor, in reference
to those evil days, "to witness the hard feelings and severe
expressions of apostates ; while on the other, I rejoiced to
:<ee the firmness, faith, integrity, and joy of the faithful."

234 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

The removal of the head-quarters of the Church to Mis-
souri was the signal for the abandonment of Kirtland by the
Saints. In July, 1838, a company of more than five hundred
left for the West, "pitching their tents by the way," under
the direction of the quorum of seventy. They were called
the Kirtland camp and upon their arrival in Missouri settled
at Adam-ondi-Ahman. After this there were only a few left
at Kirtland, but a small branch existed there as late as 1840,
though it was discontinued in this year. The apostates, how-
ever, must have been numerous ; for afterwards we find Ly-
man Wight reconverting about two hundred of them at Kirt-
land. The temple, desecrated by apostates and other ene-
mies of the Church, long lay useless, a silent monument to
the extraordinary scenes that had been witnessed within its
sacred precincts. It is now in the hands of the so called
"Reorganized church."

Such were the violent scenes during the Last Days of
Kirtland.

CHAPTER IX.

THE HERALD OF GRACE.

While the Prophet Joseph was standing in the midst of trait-
ors ai Kirtland who were waiting eagerly for an opportvinity
to strike him down, he had remarked to some faithful breth-
ren: "God has revealed to me that something nezv must be
done for the salvation of the Chnreh." That something new
proved to be the opening of the British mission — one of the
most important movements in this dispensation.

The ''Mormon" Proselyting System.

One of the numerous distinctive features of the Chruch, and
at the same time one of the most puzzling to an outsider, is
our great missionary organization. As is well known, with
us practically all the male membership of the Church hold the
priesthood, and are therefore preachers, supposed to hold
themselves in readiness to go to the remotest corners of the
earth to proclaim the gospel when .called upon \fv tJieir su-
periors. This of itself is no small deviation from the prevail-
ing custom among Christian sects, of a chosen clergy. But
the most extraordinary thing about the "Mormon" idea is,
that the great burden of expense attached to carrying the
message of peace to the world is borne by the missionaries
themselves individually. This, in parts where they do not
travel "without purse and scrip," generally means several
hundred dollars, sometimes several thousand, not estimating
the amount required by the family at home nor that which
might have been earned during the years spent in the mis-
sionary field. There have been times in the history of "Mor-
monism" when eighteen hundred men have been engaged in

236 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the foreign ministry alone. It is not difficult, therefore, to
see that this is an immense drain on the private financial re-
sources of individual members of the Church. And yet there
is little indication that this is felt ; for there is no more pros-
perous community to be found anywhere than the "Mor-
mons"— these very men who devote so much time and means
to preaching their faith abroad. During his life, an average
Latter-day Saint may fill two or three missions of from two
to five years each. In these days when sanctity itself is
measured in terms of dollars and cents, it is no marvel that
non-"Mormons" are puzzled at what they view a tremen-
dous sacrifice of personal interest.

And yet this immense expenditure of labor and means
has been going on ever since "Mormonism" began. At first,
of course, it was small and limited to the vicinity of Palmyra
and Fayette. But not for long. As soon as converts multi-
plied, the male members of these, devoted much of their time
to publishing the word. In a surprisingly short period, the
disciples of Joseph Smith might be seen in all the States of
the Union, east and west. Then the Avork was extended into
Canada and England, into European and Asiatic countries
generally, and into the islands of the sea, till now most coun-
tries of the civilized world have echoed to the voice of the
"Mormon" propagandist.

But this enormous task of warning the world has mean-
time been of incalculable benefit to the Church otherwise
than by increasing its membership. It has been an unfail-
ing source of education to the Saints, both individually and
collectively. No other distinctive body is as rapidly becom-
ing so cosmopolitan. These thousands of missionaries,
young and old, picked up from every settlement, almost
from every family, and from every walk of life, visit the
various countries of the world; they brush up against all
(.! ; .ics of people, view their habits and customs, inspect their

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 237

cities, industries, and general civilization, associate intimately
with them in public and in private, learn their language, read "p
tlieir literature, think their thoughts ; and then they return '
home laden with new ideas, which they scatter with a free
hand in the towns and cities where they live, thus lifting
whole communities to a higher and broader plane of life.

Verily, this latter-day work is a "marvelous work and a
wonder;" for what human wisdom could have devised so
comprehensive and effective a means of proclaiming the pe-
culiar tenets of the religion, and at the same time contribute
so much to the general elevation of the mind ?

The first indication of the extensiveness of this mission-
ary system was the labors of Parley P. Pratt in Canada and i|
of Heber C. Kimbajl in England.

The Canadian Mission.

One evening, in April, 18^.6. Aoostle Pratt, having retired at
an early hour, was meditating upon his present circum-
stances and his future course. He was then living at Kirt- ^
land. All his fellow-apostles had either gone on missions or
were about to go. But he was deeply in debt, not only on
account of the past winter's household expenses, but also, and
especially, on account of a lot which he had purchased and
a house which he had built on it. While he was at the point
of debating in his mind "whether to go on a mission or stay
at home, and endeavor to sustain his family and pay his
debts," there came an unexpected knock at his door. He
arose and opened it, whereupon Heber C. Kimball and some
other brethren entered. They were filled with the spirit of
prophecy, declares Parley, and blessed him and his wife,
making over their heads some of the most astonishing pre-
dictions. His wife should be healed of a long-standing in-
firmity, and should bear a son, who was to be named Parley.
This was the more extraordinary because, though this couple

'^;}8 oNi: iirNDRr.n vicars of mormoxism.

had been married ten years no child had come to their home.
Elder Pratt was advised not to "take thought" concerning
his debts, for the Lord would supply him abundantly.
"Thou shalt go to Upper Canada," continued the prophetic
blessing, "even to the city of^j^^yj^y^, the capital, and there
thou shalt find a people prej^ared for the fulness of the gos-
pel, and they shall receive thee, and thou shalt organize the
Church among them, and it shall spread thence into the re-
gions roimd about, and many shall be brought to a knowledge
of the truth and shall be filled with joy; and from the things
growing out of this mission, shall the fulness of the gospel
spread into England, and cause a great work to be done in
that land." This, of course, set Parley's mind at rest, and
he was soon on his way to the city of Toronto.

This was not the first time however, that "Mormon"
missionaries had visited Canada. Elder Qrson_£]aU. had
preached at ^Patten, in July, i8.^.^ ; and the Prophet himself
with Sidney Rigdon had delivered several discourses at
Mount Pleasant and adjoining towns — about ninety miles
south-west of Toronto — in October of the same year. On
this occasion Joseph _baptized sixteen persons, and there
were others, he says, who_helieved. At Loborough, also,
there must have been some missionary work done, for we
read in the Prophet's journal, under date of Juii£-29tb„_ijSj5,
of a special conference being held by the twenty-five mem-
bers forming the branch there. Six of the apostles — Elders
E^tten, Kimball, Orson Pratt, Boynton, and the two John-
sons— were present on this occasion to instruct the Saints on
points of doctrine concerning which they had desired infor-
mation. But beyond these, and probably one or two other,
isolated instances, it appears that nothing had been done to-
ward opening a regular mission in the Dominion prior to
1836.

On reaching. Toronto, injOntario, Parlex.P- Pratt went

OXn IIUXDRF.D YEARS OF MORMONISM. 239

to the home of Joljn Ta3lor, the same who afterwards be-
came president of the Church, to whom he had been given a
letter of introckiction by a person he had met at Hamilton,
just acio-s tile lake. But Mr, Taylor received him some-
what coldly. That night he went to a hotel. Next morning
he called on several ministers of the different churches, but
he was "refused hospitality," and denied the privilege of
preaching in any of their chapels. He applied to the sheriff
for the court house, but with no better success. "Rather an
unpromising beginning," he thought, "considering the proph-
ecies on my head concerning Toronto." He repaired to a
pine grove just outside of town, where he prayed that the
Lord would open the way, for he had done all he could. Re-
turning to Mr. Taylor's, he put his hand to his baggage,
with a view to leaving a place where he could do no good,
when a_Mrs. Walton came in and invited him to stay at her
house. Feeling that this was an answer to his prayer, he
went with her. When this good woman found that the new
preacher believed in signs following faith, she solicited him
to visit a friend of hers who was blind, for the purpose of
administering to her. Elder Pratt did so, with the result that
the woman's sight was completely restored. Meanwhile he
was meeting people and attending religious services in the
town, but made no appointments to preach.

Now, at Toronto there was a society composed of a
number of persons, men and women, who. having became
dissatisfied with all the churches, met together twice a week
for the purpose of discussing topics pertaining to religion.
^Ir. Taylor and his wife and Mrs. Walton belonged to this
group. One Sunday evening Elder Pratt was invited to
their meeting. On this occasion John Taylor led the discus-
sion by reading the text and commenting upon it, which hap-
pened to be the account of Philip's journey to Samaria.
"Where is our modern Philip?" asked Mr. Taylor; "where

240 ONE HUNDRF.D YEARS OF MORMONISM.

are our preachers today authorized of God to baptize with
water for the remision of sin ? Where, moreover, is the an-
cient Church with apostles and prophets, inspired of heaven ?
Where are the gifts and blessings which Jesus said should
follow the true believer?" Others present made similar re-
marks. Elder Pratt wa,s invited to speak. But he declined
owing to the lateness of the hour. An appointment was
made for him. He spoke on the apostasy from the primitive
Church. After this he preached twice to the same audience,
once on the glories of the New Dispensation as predicted in
the Scriptures, and then on the actual fulfillment of these
prophecies in the visions and revelations of our own day.
The whole society, except the chairman, was converted, John
Taylor, his wife, and Mrs. Walton being the first to be bap-
tized.

The wedge of the gospel thus inserted into this body of
independent thinkers cleft in twain the religious sentiment at
Toronto and the vicinity for many miles. Mr. Taylor, a man
of considerable education, good standing in the community,
and a former Methodist preacher, was ordained an Elder,
and his services were enlisted in the new ministry. At a
town nine miles distant these two elders called on Joseph
Fielding, who with his two sisters was subsequently bap-
tized, though the young ladies, when the "'Mormons" first
came to their home, had escaped to a neighbor's. One of
these afterwards became the wife of Patriarch Hyrum
Smith and the mother of President Joseph F. Smith.

After two months' labor at Toronto, Elder Pratt re-
turned home to Kirtland, for some of his debts were pressing
and he needed a fresh supply of printed matter to circulate
among the people. "I accordingly gave out word," he says,
"at a meeting in Toronto one Sunday evening, that I should
take boat for home next morning. Now all this time I had
asked no man for money, nor had I explained my circum-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 241

stances, however, on shaking hands at the close of the next
several bank bills were secretly shaken into my hands,
amounting- in all to several hundred dollars." On
reaching home, he found his wife entirely healed of her ail-
ment. After a short visit he went back to Canada, taking
Mjrs. Pratt with him.

"^ The work there increased in a marvelous manner. Num-
bers were added to the Church ; the gifts of the gospel were
manifested on every hand. Soon the labor of visiting and
preaching became too arduous for Elder Pratt, and Apostles
Hyde and Orson Pratt were sent to aid him. A family of
JTjfij^ls. named Lamphire, whom everyone had given up as
. reprobate, was converted. A Mrs. Whitney, living in the
same neighborhood, strangely afflicted with bodily contor-
tions, was immediately healed upon being administered to by
Elder Pratt.

Great interest, not to say excitement, was manifested in
Toronto and adjacent towns. For a time this was added to
by a diversion in the nature of-opposition by a Revfigewd-Mr.
Caird. a Scottish preacher, who visited Canada periodically
as a religious reformer. Throughout Ontario this man had
an immense reputation. When, therefore, Elder Pratt, who
was himself a man of rare eloquence and personal magnet-
ism, appeared with his new religion, everybody was anxious
that the two should get together, for they felt that the com-
bat of these giants would be a great source of edification.
Parley went to Kingston a place about one hundred and sev-
enth-five miles distant up the lake, where Rev. Caird was
preaching. But the cautious reformer, having heard of the
"Mormon" apostle's fame, could not be induced to debate.
At his public harangues on the latter's creed and people, he
would not let the Elder make a reply. PTandbills, however,
were circulated, refuting the slanders of the reverenrl

preacher. He fled to Toronto, where he was followed b\- tlu-
16 — — -^

243 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

apostle. Here Elder Hyde and Parley Pratt, securing the
free use of the public hall, preached to immense audiences,
exposing Mr. Caird's pretentions and his assertions con-
cerning the Church. The "Christian" minister's next move
was, therefore, to make a precipitate flight to Scotland,
where ten years later Elder Pratt found him "living in pri-
vate life and of no notoriety."

We have no means of ascertaining how many converts
were made at this time in the Canadian mission, but we have
reason to believe that the number was very large. There
must have been many hundreds. Subsequently to this. Apos-
tle John E. Page alone baptized more than six hundrecijJ.er-
sons there. At the time the Saints occupied Caldwell coun-

' >n I I r —

ty, we read of several large companies coming there from
Canada.

Elder Pratt returned home. His wife bore him a son,
whom he named Parley; but the mother, "when the child
was dressed, and she had looked upon it, ceased to live in the
flesh." There remains only one more item of the remarkable
o!ucy uttered upon this apostle's head by Heber C. Kim-
ball, that remains to be fulfilled. But we shall see presently
that that, too, was not to fail.

The English Mission.

"Let my servant Pleber go to England to proclaim mygos-
pel, and open the door of salvation to that nation." Such
were the words which the Prophet Joseph whispered into
the ear of Heber C. Kimball, as the latter sat "in front of the
stand, above the sacrament table, on the Melchisedek side of
the temple, in Kirtland," on the evening of June. 4th, 1837.
"The thought," says his biographer, Bishop O. F. Whitney,
"was overpowering. He had been surprised at his call to the
apostleship: now he was overwhelmed. Like Jeremiah he
5'. ;ggered imder the weight of his own weakness, exclaiming

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 243

in self-humiliation : 'O, Lord, I am a man of stammering
toiigue, and^alLogethcr unfit for such a work ; how can I go to
preach in that land, which is so famed throughout Christen-
dom^foT- learnings knowledge and piety; the. nursery of re-
ligion ; and to a people whose intelligence is proverbial.' " He
begged that_^Brigham Young might go with him, but the
Prophet had use at home for that stalwart. While his knees
were yet shaking with the weight of responsibility of so
great an undertaking, apostates endeavored to throw dis-
couragement in his way ; but the faithful ones said, "Go and
do as the Prophet has told you, and you shall prosper and
be blessed with power to do a glorious work." Subsequent-
ly Qr^pn Hyde and WJllard^ Richaxds^whom Heber had
prophetically promised long before he ever thought of going
to England that they two should go together — and Joseph
Fielding, late from Canada, were added to the mission. The
Presidency laid their hands upon the chief apostle and in-
voked great blessings upon his head. God would make him
mighty to win souls ; angels should bear him up, lest his feet
should slip ; and he should be a means of salvation to thou-
sands.

Qn th^j.'^th of Ti-me, these elders left for the shores of
Britain. On their way they were joined by Tnhn Gnojjgnn.
Isaac Russell, and John Snyder, from Canada. At New
York city they were compelled to wait till they could obtain
sufficient means to pay their passage over the waters, though
the ship lay at anchor ready to depart. Meantime, they sent
one hundred and eighty copies of Orson Hyde's Timely
Warnings to as many of New York's ministers, and distrib-
uted great numbers throughout the city. At last they ob-
tained the necessary amount — ^^ghteen dollars apiece — to
pay for a birth in the Garrick. It was now the ist of July.
After nineteen days' sailing, they entered the Mersey, op-

244 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

posite LiverpoQl. and the seven"Mormon"missionariesleaped
ashore "homeless in a land of homes."

Calling upon the Lord for guidance, they were directed
by the Spirit to go to Prestpn, thirty-one miles from Liver-
pool. When they reached this place, July 22d, it was elec-
tion day. Queen Victoria had just ascended the throne, and
members of Parliament were to be chosen. An immense
throng paraded the streets, with music, flags, and banners,
shouting and hurrahing. One of these flags floating above
their heads, contained the letters "Trutji wjll FreyaH." As
it approached the place where the Elders were they shouted,
"Amen ! Thanks be to God, Truth will prevail !" A fitting
reception, this, for the penniless preachers from America
bringing to the British public the Pearl of Great Price.

And here the English mission connects itself with the
Canadian, through the prediction which Elder Kimball had
uttered over the head of Elder Pratt, more than a year be-
fore. Jpseph Fielding. Heber's fellow-missionary to Eng-
land, was. one of Farley's converts at Toronto. He had rela-
tives in the neighborhood of Preston, to whom, after his
conversion, he wrote concerning the rise of the new Ameri-
can Church. One of these relatives was a Reverend James
Fielding, the minister of Vauxhall chapel in this English
town. So interested had he become in the communications
of his brother respecting the marvelous character of the
Restoration that he advised his congregation to pray that
these inspired prophets might visit them also. This, cer-
tain members of his church had done, and God now con-
descended to answer their prayers ; for it is stated that
"many, in dreams and visions, were shown the very men
whom the Lord was about to send into their midst. Heber
C. Kimball, especially, on his arrival in Preston, was recog-
nized by persons who had never until then beheld him in the
flesh." The first evening after the missionaries had reached

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 245

Preston, they received an invitation to visit the Reverend Mr.
Fielding, which Elders Kimball, Hyde, and Goodson accept^"
ed. Mr. Watson, Fielding's brother-in-law, a minister from
Bedford, was also present at the interview. The next day
being Sunday, the Elders attended the chapel services, which
included a sermon by the pastor. To their surprise, but in
answer to a silent prayer they had offered during the dis-
course, the preacher announced that at 3 o'clock that after-
noon some ministers from America would preach at that
place. Apostles Kimball and Hyde spoke to the audience,
which was unusually large. Another appointment was made
for that evening, which was filled by Elders Goodson and
Fielding. Thus was literally fulfilled Apostle Kimball's pre-
diction, for "from the things growing out of that mission"
of Parey P. Pratt's to Canada, "the gospel spread into Eng-
land."

At this point Satan, becoming alarmed, sought to frus-
trate the work of God, through direct and indirect means.
First, he closed the doors of Vauxhall chapel against the
missionaries. Mr. Fielding, when he found that the preach-
ing of the American elders was likely to lose him his flock,
and therefore his source of temporal gains — for a number
of the congregation had asked for baptism, and many others
believed — informed Elder Kimball that he could have the
use of his meeting-house no longer. He forbade the Apos-
tle to baptize any of his people. But the redoubtable Heber
replied: "They are of age and can act for themselves; I
shall baptize all who come to me, asking no favors of any
man'" Whereat, we are told, "Mr. Fielding trembled as
though he had a chill."

Failing to check the progress of Truth, the Adversary
of Souls resorted to his old devices. About daybreak of
Sunday, July 30th, Isaac Russell came into the room occu-
pied by Elders Kimball and Hyde, and asked them to rebuke

246 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the evil spirits with which he was possessed. They did so,
whereupon Heber was "struck with great force by some in-
visible power, and fell senseless on the floor." Upon recov-
ering, the Lord showed him in vision the hosts of the infer-
nal regions. "We gazed upon them about an hour and a
half (by Willard's watch)," declares Elder Kimball, and his
testimony concerning this extraordinary revelation is cor-
roborated by Orson Hyde. "We were not looking towards
the window, but towards the wall. Space appeared before
us, and we saw the devils coming in legions, with their
leaders, who came within a few feet of us. They came to-
wards us like armies rushing to battle. They appeared to
be men of full stature, possessing every form and feature of
men in the flesh, who were angry and desperate ; and I shall
never forget the vindictive malignity depicted on their coun-
tenances as they looked me in the eye; and any attempt to
paint the scene which then presented itself, or portray their
malice and enmity, would be vain. I perspired exceedingly,
my clothes becoming as wet as if I had been taken out of the
river. I felt excessive pain, and was in the greatest distress
for some time. I cannot even look back on the scene without
feelings of horror; yet by it I learned the power of the ad-
versary, his enmity against the servants of God, and got
some understanding of the invisible world. We distinctly
heard those spirits talk and express their wrath and hellish
designs against us. However, the Lord delivered us from
them, and blessed us exceedingly that day." With consid-
erable misgivings as to his own condition at the time. Elder
Kimball, when he got home, asked Joseph the Prophet con-
cerning this vision. "When I heard of it," said the latter,
"it gave me great joy, for I then knew that the work of God
had taken root in that land." That morning at nine o'clock
Apostle Kimball baptized nine persons, George D. Watt be-
ing the first to receive the ordinance. One of these — Sister

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 247

Elizabeth_^^lingleY — was healed, by the power of God, of
that dread disease consumption.

The missionaries now separated, Elders Richards and
Goadson going to tlie city of Bedford, Kussell and Snyder, \

ta Alston, in Cumberland, and Apostles Kimball and Hyde ^

and Priest Fielding to remain where they were. Not long
after this, Snyder came to Preston and reported that, though
he and Russell had baptized about thirty souls, they had met
with a good deal of opposition. After a few days' visit with
the brethren here, he and Goodson, who had also deserted his
field of labor, left for their home in America, the latter pre-
tending that his business there required him to do so, and
taking with him nearly two hundred copies of the Book of
Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants, which he refused
either to give or sell to Elder Kimball, though he burned
them before he reached his journey's end. Goodson had
brought about considerable trouble to his companions by his
injudicious methods of preaching; for he administered
"meat" to the new converts, who could barely endure the
"milk of the word." He had turned away the Reverend
Matthews from the truth by reading to him the vision of the
three glories, a thing which Joseph had specifically forbidden
the outgoing missionaries to do. Had it not been for this,
and more or less sickness on the part of Elder Richards,
more good might have been accomplished at Bedford and
vicinity. As it was, two branches of forty members were
"raised up" in the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, the Preston miiiistry was making phenom-
inal progress. On the evening of their third Sunday in Eng-
Tand, the Elders organized a branch of twenty-seven, mem-
bers. They now extended their labors int(^ the villages ad-
jacent to Preston, where they met with the most amazing
success. Among these small towns, we find Penwortham,
Walkgjrfold, Thornley, Ribchester, Chatburn, Clithero, Bar-

248 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

she Lees, Waddington, Leyland Moss, Leyland Lane, Ec-
cleston, Hunter's Hill, Euxton, Whittle, Dauber's Lane,
Bamber Bridge, Longton, Southport, Downham, Brumley,
Brampton, Bolton, and Chorley, in all of which branches of
the Church were established.

Of the work done at Walkerfold and Chatburn we may
speak more in detail. On August 4th, Elder Kimball had
baptized and confirmed Miss Jennetta Richards, a young
girl of unusual intelligence, the daughter of a minister at
Walkerfold, who had come on a visit to the Walmsley's at
Preston. On her return home, she communicated the facts
concerning the new Church to her father, John Richards^
who forthwith, in fulfillment of the "Mormon" apostle's pre-
diction to Jennetta, extended an invitation to the mission-
aries to preach in his chapel on Sunday evening. Elder
Kimball went to Walkerfold, and was received by a "God
bless you !" from the reverend gentleman. He preached a
touching discourse to a large audience, and, by request,
spoke again on Wednesday evening. Subsequently, all the
younger members of Mr. Richards' congregation, and many
of the older ones, were baptized.

At^ Chatburn, also, a village near Preston which the
ministers for thirty years past had always avoided as a col-
lection of recalcitrants^ Elder Kimball was successful beyond
the belief of his fellow-missionaries themeslves. There,
standing on a barrel in a great tithing barn, he preached to
a large crowd of eager listeners. "When I concluded," he
says, "I felt some one pulling at my coat, exclaiming
Maister, Maister!' I turned round and asked what was
wanted. Mrs. Elizabeth PartiugtQji said, 'Please sir, will
you baptize me ?' 'And me ?' 'And me ?' exclaimed more than
a dozen voices." He thereupon baptized twenty-five. On
his way to-Do\Ynhani, next morning, he baptized twenty-five
or thirty more. Next night he returned to Chatburn, and

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 249

found that this and other villages adjoining were "affected
from one end to the other" by his preaching. "Parents
called their children together, spoke to them on the subjects
which he had preached about, and warned them against
swearing and all other evil practices." While passing
through Chatburn on another occasion, Brothers Kimball
and Fielding, had been observed by the inhabitants. "The
news ran from house to house, and immediately the noise of
their looms was hushed and the people flocked to their doors
to welcome us and see us pass. More than forty young peo-
ple of the place ran to meet us; sonie took hold of our man
ties and then of each others' hands ; several having hold of
hands went before us singing the songs of ZioUj while their
parents gazed upon the scene with delight, and
poured out their blessings upon our heads, and
praised the God of heaven for sending us to un-
fold the principles of truth and the plan of sal-
vation to them. The children continued with us to Down-
ham, a mile distant." A strange love, surely, for whole vil-
lages to show for two Americans whose faces they had
looked upon for the first time only a week before !

Wherever these men of God went, their labors among
the people were sealed by the Holy Spirit in various manifes-
tations. The sick were healed by the power of the Lord ; the
lame were made to walk; several consumptives were cured
instantly by the administration of baptism ; devils were re-
buked in the name of Jesus ; and the gifts of the gospel
were enjoyed in other ways. "Many scores of persons," de-
clares Apostle Kimball, "were healed by our sending a hand-
Jcerchief to them." Meetings were held in the Cockpit," "a
large and commodious place, capable of seating eight hun-
dred persons, and situated in the centre of Preston." It had
once been used for cock-fighting, but had recently been con-
verted into a temperance hall. The arena was now occupied

1

I

0

250 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

by the singers ; and the place where the judges had viewed the
contentious "roosters" and awarded the prizes, was used for
a pulpit. Here, at Christmas tide, i8y, a special confer-
ence was held, with three hundred'Salnts in attendance. The
"w"brd of wisdom" was at this time first made known to the
people, though the example of the Elders in this respect had
already promulgated the doctrine. The spirit of the Lord
was poured out upon the Elders and Saints in a remarkable
manner.

But all this success had not been won without opposi-
tion. At Walkerfold, some of the young people who had
joined the Church were driven from home by their parents.
Some preachers at Preston, most of whom, it was after-
wards found, were themselves unlicensed, compelled the El-
ders to take out licenses to preach. The Rev. Robert Aitkin,
a famous reform minister, many of whose disciples had em-
braced the Church, came to Preston and delivered several
philipics against "Mormonism." These, however, the el-
ders met by reading the thirteenth chapter of first Corinthi-
ans to the Saints at their Sunday evening meeting. In re-
turn for Aitkin's desire and prayer that the Lord would
either drive all the "Mormons" from the coast or smite their
leaders, the apostles advised their flock to pray that God
might touch the heart of this reverend preacher that he
might see the light. During much of this time all kinds of
slanders were circulated concerning the missionaries, chiefly
by the professed teachers of the gospel, who dared not face
the elders in open discussion. But this opposition served
only to advertise the work, as indeed it always has done in
the history of "Mormonism;" for men can do nothing
against, but for the truth.

The missionaries had now been here nearly eight
months, and they determined to leave for. Ainericajn a few
days. They appointed a conference for the 8th of April,

ONE HUNDRRD YEARS OF MORMONISM. 261

18^8, and made arrangements to visit the branches which
'tliev^ had established. Elders Richards and Russell now
joined them from their fields of labor. We need not follow
the brethren in their journey from one village to another,
except to say that their parting with the Saints was a source
of grief to all concerned. The Saints at Chatburn were in-
consolable at the melancholy prospect of seeing Heber's face
no more. The great Apostle, too, was borne down by a
weight of sorrow. "When I left them," he says, "my feel-
ings were such as I cannot describe. As I walked down the
street I was followed by numbers; the doors were crowded
by the inmates of the houses to bid me farewell, who could
only give vent to their grief in sobs and broken accents.
While contemplating this scene I was constrained to take
off my hat, for I felt as if the place was holy ground. The
Spirit of the Lord rested down upon me and I was con-
strained to bless the whole region of country. I^ was fol-
lowed by a great number to Clithero, a considerable distance
from the villages, who could then hardly separate from me.
My heart was like unto theirs, and I thought my head was
a fountain of tears, for I wept for several miles after I bid
them adieu. I had to leave the road three times to go to the
streams of water to bathe my eyes." Subsequently j. the
Prophet Joseph informed Heber that "some of the ancient
apostles had traveled in that region and dedicated the land,
and that Elder Kimball had reaped the benefit of their
blessing." A great many new converts were made during
these visits ; Heber speaks of having to go into the water
six or seven times during the day.

The appointed conference was held at Preston Sunday,
April 8th. Between six and seven hundred Saints were

\^ III nil— y"

present, and all the branches, it seems, were represented.
Toseph Fielding- was appointed to preside over the English
mission, with Willard Richards and William Clayton as his

253 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

counselors. These three brethren were ordained high
priests. Forty persons were confirmedj^ about one hundred
children blessed ; and twenty souls baptized. The first meet-
ing of this memorable conference continued without inter-
mission from 9 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon. At 7
o'clock another meeting was held, at which the departing
brethren made farewell addresses. When they spoke of
parting, the people wept like children. It seemed impossi-
ble for these affectionate Saints to let the Elders go.

On the 20th they embarked for home on the same ves-
sel that had borne them so safely to England. Upon reach-
ing New York they found that the two Pratt brothers had
been instrumental in converting many persons there and es-
tablishing them into branches. On May 22d the misionaries
reached home, which they had left a little over eleven months
before.

This had been a wonderful mission. In all two thou-
sand souls had been brought into the Church, four hundred
of whom lived at Preston. About fifteen hundred of this
number had been converted through the labors of Heber C.
Kimball alone. Thus was an effectual door opened for the
gospel in England. Since then tens of thousands of Brit-
ain's best people — the^great middle class of that country —
have embraced the truth and immigrated to Zion, where
they have been a firm and substantial bulwark to "Mormon-
ism" and to the Great West — the "something new" of
which the Prophet spoke.

CHAPTER X.

Missouri's bloodstained escutcheon.

No sooner had the Saints entered upon the full possession
of their new home in Upper Missouri than the heavens be-
came suddenly overcast, and there broke upon their heads a
storm such as paled into insignificance all former ones in
their ill-starred career.

Election-day at Gallatin.

The first indications of trouble appeared at Gallatiar a small
settlement in the vicinity of Diahman in Daviess county. It
was election-day there — Auo^ust 6th, iSjS^^and a man by
the name of Peniston was running for office. Perceiving
that he could not count on the "Mormon" vote in the district,
he set his heart on preventing them from casting their bal-
lots. Of this design on their rights as American citizens,
however, the brethren had been informed some two weeks
since by Judge Morin, who also advised them to go to the
polls prepared to defend themselves. But "hoping for better
things," they went there unarmed.

The Judge's friendly warning proved to be based upon
sufficient grounds. For, about 1 1 o'clock, Peniston, mount-
ed on a barrel, harrangued the crowd gathereoatthe polls,
calling the "Mormons" dupes, counterfeiters, liars, thieves,
and other unsavory names, and adding that their presence in
the county menaced the peace, prosperity, and property of
the older settlers. This, of course, precipitated a fight be-
tween the two elements, which was begun by Peniston's
men, but in which the brethren, thus provoked, strenuously
maintained their ground. The mob, though outnumbering

254 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the "Mormons," retreated in disgrace, but in an hour or so
came back greatly increased in number, and armed with
clubs, knives, and guns, ready to put a speedy end to their
victorious foe. But no "Mormons" were to be found.
Hastily casting their votes, the brethren had gone home to
protect their families from an attack which they momentar-
ily expected would be made. The whole of that night they
spent out in the woods amid a drizzling rain.

News of this affray reached Far West next day, but in
a greatly magnified form. Two or three of the brethren, it
was reported, had been killed, their bodies still lying on the
ground weltering in the hot sun, and the Gentiles were ris-
ing en masse to expel the "Mormons" from the county. Sev-
eral brethren at the Caldwell town, including Joseph, armed
themselves and hastened to the rescue, receiving additions
to their number as they went. Arrived upon the scene and
learning the facts in the case, they rested at_Diahniai^Next
day, being in the vicinity of Adani^Black's they called upon
that person to ascertain his attitude, as a public officer, re-
specting the recent election troubles. They obtained the fol-
lowing literary curiosity, which, however, as a statement of
his real feelings, proved woefully misleading:'

"I, Adam Black, a Justice of the Peace of Daviess coun-
ty, do hereby Sertify to the people, coled Mormin, that he is
bound to suport the Constitution of this State, and of the
United State, and he is not attached to any mob, nor will he
attach himself to any such people, and so long as they will
not molest me, I will not molest them."

On the day following this (Aug. 9th), a meeting be-
tween the Prophet, his brother Hyrum, Lyman Wight, and
a few others, acting for the "Mormon" population of Da-
viess county, and Joseph Morin, State senator-elect, John
Williams, State representative-elect, James B. Turner, clerk
of the circuit court, and several others, acting for the old

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 255

citizens, was held at Diahman. Each party agreed to pre-
serve the peacCj and to deUver up to the law all offenders
within their ranks. This done, the company from Far West
returned home, feliciting one another upon the successful is-
sue of what had threatened to become a very troublesome
affair.

But the fire had not been really put out; it smouldered
still, and a few breaths soon revived it into a flame and then
into a conflagration that nothing seemed likely to extinguish.
Peniston made an affidavit before Judge King to the eft'ect
that his life was endangered by a company of "Mormons,"
then in the county, of a "highly insurrectionary character,"
that Adam Black had been compelled by them "to submit to
great indignity" by being forced "on pain of immediate
death to sign a paper writing of a very disgraceful charac-
ter," and that these "Mormons" threatened "to do the same
to all the old settlers." This was reinforced, on the_2Sth
ofjhe month, by an affidavit made before Justice Dry den by
Black himself, swearing to similar false charges, adding
that the "Mormons" had expressed their determination "not
to submit to the laws." About the same time that these un-
truths were given general circulation, a rumor spread to the
effect that the Prophet_ had_ refused to be arrested by the
proper officer on a regular warrant. The facts were that
Joseph had merely objected to being put on trial in Dayijgss
county where the judges and the jury might be browbeaten
by his enemies into convicting him ; he wished rather to be
tried in his own county ; and the sheriff had acquiesced in
the matter. Later, however, on the advice of General AtcliT
ison, the Prophet and Lyman Wight were tried in Daviess
county, but_ their chief accuser — ^^eniston — failed to put in an
appearance, and they were accordingly bound over to appear
at the next session of the district court. Meanwhile, on the
strength of those affidavits and false rumors, the aid of a

256 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

number of other counties was secured to drive the "Mor-
mons." Ostensibly this ill-will of the mob element confined
itself to the "Mormon" population of Daviess county ; but in
reality, as there is abundant evidence to show, it embraced
all the "Mormons" in Upper Missouri. The most alarming
stories of atrocities alleged to have been committed by the
Saints flooded the country, till one would have imagined —
and doubtless many did imagine — that these harmless people
were more akin to the savages just across the borders than
to civilized beings.

All this, with a complaint of Justice Dryden's that the
"Mormons" would not submit to the Taw^ found its way into
documents, which were despatched to Governor Boggs, The
result was the formation of a mob of more than two hun-
dred, which threatened the peace of Diahman, but which was
held at bay by an armed company of the brethren at that
place under the command of Lyman Wight ; .and the_issi]h_
ance of orders by the Governor to General Atchison to raise
"four hundred mounted men, armed and equipped as infauj
try or riflemen," and hold them in readiness either to put
down any Indian disturbances on the frontier or those that
might arise from the "Mormons" in Daviess, Caldwell, or
Carroll counties. In the meantime, two men while on their
way from Richmond with guns and ammunition for the mob,
were taken prisoners by a small company of the brethren
near Far West, but were shortly afterwards turned over to
General Doniphan, as also were the arms.

Early in September General Doniphan with four com-
panies of fifty each marched to Daviess county and took up
his position between the mob under Dr. Austin, of Carroll
county, and the "Mormon"forces under Col. Wight at DiaJj-
inap. To both he read Atchison's orders to disperse. Ly-
man Wight objected to disband as long as the mob retained
their arms. Dr. Austipj^ while professing that his men, col-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 257

lected from various counties, were there wholly for self-de-
fense, nevertheless "continued marching and counter march-
ing." Later, when Atchison appeared with his companies,
and ordered the mob to disperse, they made a pretense of do-
ing so, but only about half of their number really obeyed.
The "Morniiins," accqrding_±o-Atehison's report to Gover-
nor Boggs, "appeared to be acting on the defensive," and
Wight, whom he describes as "a bold, braveTsKilTful, and
desperate man," gave up the offenders "with a good deal of
promptness." All the troops, except two companies, Avere
dismissed, and these, under General Parks, were to remain
there only till "peace and confidence" were restored. J^en^
era! Parks, in his communication to the Governor, dated
Sept. 25th, declares that the "Mormons" had not to him
manifested any disposition to resist the laws, or any hostile
intentions. "There has been so much prejudice and exag-
geration concerned in this matter," he continues, "that I
found things entirely different from what T was prepared
to expect." Previously to his arrival there, a committee
consisting of "Mormons" and non-"Mormons" had been ap-
pointed for the purpose of negotiating terms for buying or
selling out on the part of one or the other. But Parks stat-
ed in this report that, according to information he had re-
ceived, it was "the determination of the Daviess county
men," in case the committee could not agree, "to drive the
Mormons with powder and lead." Nevertheless, peace
seemed to be restored in this part of Missouri.

Beleaguered De Witt.

That portion of Austin's band of mobocrats which refused to
disperse at the orders of General Atchison, proceededjo^De
Wiit_^-little "Mormon" settlement about fifty miles south-
pnst of F;ir West,, in Carroll county. It comprised, at the
time, not aljovc scvLiitx families, most of whom, having only

258 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

recently come there from Ohio and other eastern points,
were still for the greater part occupying their tents and wa-
gons, though they were hastening their preparation of bet-
ter quarters for the on-coming winter. As early as the I2th
of September a band of from one hundred to one hundred
and fifty men had threatened to drive and kill the Saints
there unless they were gone by the first of the month. The
latter, however, undaunted by these illegal demands, ap-
pealed to the Governor, who for some reason paid no atten-
tion to their petition. When, therefore, the "Mormons"
were still found at De Witt on the 2d of October, about fifty
men rode up to their camps and began firing. On learning
of these violent proceedings through an affidavit by Mr.
Root, of that place, General Parks, with his two companies,
marched from Diahman to disperse the mob. But his men
mutinied, and he returned to Grand river.

By this time, Austin had united his forces to those al-
ready there.making a mob-collection of nearly three hundred.
Failing to dislodge the "Mormons," they determined on a
siege. They completely surrounded the place, shut off ev-
ery avenue of escape, and guarded every road and path lead-
ing from the settlement. Having but a small supply of pro-
visions on hand, the beleaguered Saints felt almost imme-
diately the results of this barbarity. At first they were re-
duced to rations : but soon there was jigthing to divide. With
what.^rateful_emotions did these hungry peoplelqok u.2011 a
jcow or an ox thatstrayedj miraculously, as it -seemed, into
the camp ; and with what speed was it despatched, without
any questions as to its owner ! Once, in their extremity for
flour, they gave a stranger money with which to buy a
quantity, but neither he nor the money was seen again. On
another occasion a brother generously offered to kill and
dress a favorite team of oxen which he had recently pur-
chased. When, however, he made his appearance beyond

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 259

the skirts of the settlement, he was shot at by the mob ; and
he returned, having narrowly escaped with his life. Many
of the Saints, not having adequate shelter, suffered a good
deal from sickness.

While they were in this sad plight, the Prophet Joseph,
with a few companions from Far West, suddenly made his
appearance. He had come to give what advice and sympathy
he could, having traversed unfrequented paths through the
woods under cover of darkness. The situation was now too
far advanced, however, to permit of any compromise. Noth-
ing but a total abandonment of their homes would satisfy the
mob. About this time intelligence came to the Saints from
two different quarters, which thoroughly disheartened them.
One was news that General Parks' troops had threatened to
j[oirL.the mob. The other was an answer to a communica-
tion, with affidavits, which a number of friendly non-'"'Mor-
mons" had sent the Governor. "The quarrel," said that un-
feeling magistrate, "is between the Mormons and the mob,
and they must fight it out!''

Despairing of peace, escape, or succor, the Saints con-
sented to leave. Their property was to be appraised, so that
they should lose nothing. Besides, the mob graciously con-
descended not to molest them while they were going. So
they loaded their wagons with the sick or the otherwise help-
less, together with what goods they were able to carry with
them, and began their weary march towards Far West. All
their real estate had, indeed, been appraised, but nothing
had been said about the personal property which they had
lost, nor the cattle which their enemies had wantonly shot
down. Members of the mob, violating as usual the terms
which they themselves had dictated, fired random shots at
the retreating figures, and sent up in flames the combustible
property that had been left behind. On the way several
brethren died, and one woman, still unrecovered from child-

260 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

birth, passed away. All were buried without ceremony in
unmarked graves by the river side. The company, worn and
emaciated, reached Far West toward the middle of the
month.

The First Martyr-Apostle.

One midnight, a few days after the arrival of the De Witt
Saints in Caldwell county, the inhabitants of Far West were
aroused by a loud trumpet blast. In a few minutes the pub-
lic square was thronged with men who were eagerly in-
quiring for the cause of so unexpected a note. Joseph Hol-
brook had just arrived from the region of Log Creek, about
fifteen miles south of town, with the startling intelligence
tliat Captain Bogart, a mobocrat and one of the bitterest
enemies of the Saints, with a company pi forty armed men,
was intimidating the brethren there, stealing horses and
^royisions^ and ordering the inhabitants to leave on pain of
death. No_sQoner was this generally known, than seventy-
five men volunteered their services to go against the mob,
and were put in charge of Captain David W. Patten. _Since
this company was ordered out by Elias Higbee, the first
/judge in the county, who had authority to do so, and since
Patten held a commission in the State militia, it is perfectly
clear that this body was in ever}^ respect within the law.

Parley P. Pratt, who was a member of the expedition,
has most graphically reproduced for us the scene of this fa-
mous company marching from Far West to none knew ex-
actly where. The night was dark. In front of them great
red flames shot up from the burning prairie like "a thou-
sand meteors, throwing a fitful gleam of light upon the
distant sky." Serious reflections were produced in the minds
of the most careless by "the silence of the midnight, the rum-
bling sounds of the trampling steeds over the hard surface
of the plain, the clank of the swords in their scabbards, the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 261

occasional gleam of bright armor in the flickering firelight,
the gloom of surrounding darkness, and the unknown des-
tiny of the expedition, or even the people who sent it forth."

As the first streaks of dawn colored the east, they came
to a bend in Crooked river, which, at this point, is deeply
embedded in a gulch, and was then thickly fringed with trees
and underbrush. They paused for a moment on the hill,
their forms dimly outlined against the morning sky. Then
they began to descend. Suddenly a voice broke the still-
ness—

"Who comes there?" and almost at the same instant a
report of a gun sounded. A young man named Patterson
O'Banion fell, mortally wounded.

There was no doubt now that they were upon the ene-
my. They therefore rushed down the embankment, shout-
ing their watchword — "God and Liberty!" A short battle
followed. But Bogart and his men, after firing a few shots,
.{tiade a precipitate retreat across the river. One of them,
closely pursued by jCaptain Patten, suddenly wheeled round
and shot him in the bowels. Gideon Carter .also was shot,
dying almost immediately ; and eleven others were wounded,
but not mortally.

Making use of some of the animals and wagons left by
the fleeing mob and improvising litters to carry their dead
and wounded, the company returned home a mournful pro-
cession. Five miles out from Far West they were met by
friends and relatives, who had heard the result of the en-
gagement. Patten's wounds distressed him so much that he
begged to be taken into a house to die. Shortly afterwards
he passed away one of the first victims of this wretched per-
secution, whispering consolation to his broken-hearted wife.
"Oh, do not deny the faith, whatever else you do," were his
last words to her. Young O'Banion died about the same
time. Both were buried \yith military honors, mourned sin-

262 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

cerely by a whole community. "Brother David Patten was
a very worthy man," said the Prophet, "beloved by all good
men who knew him." And at the funeral he remarked,
pointing to the remains of the deceased apostle, "There lies
a man that has done just as he said he would — he has laid
down his life for his friends !"

On the Grand.

Exaggerated reports of this brief conflict spread over the
country like a great prairie fire. A "Reyerend .Sashiel WQnHs^
for instance, sent word to Governor Boggs that all of Bo-
garl!s -Company, "amounting to between fifty and sixty men,
were massacred by the Mormons at Buncombe, twelve miles
north of Richmond, except three." And the pious man went
on to say, "This statement you may rely on as being true."
Judge Ryland, also^jiwiata a letter to Messrs. Rees and Wil-
liams, then on their way to Jefferson city to lay before the
Governor the state of affairs in Upper Missouri, in which he
asserted that a "Mormon" force had cut off Bogart's "whole
company of fifty men." Both communications alleged that
the Saints had threatened to sack and burn RiQhrtiggd, the
latter describing, with great agitation of the pen, the horri-
fied feelings of the old settlers. "We know not the hour or
minute we will be laid in ashes," read one hysterical sentence
in the Presbyterian preacher's letter, — "our country is ruined
— for God's sake give us assistance as quick as possible!"
And the legal thoughts of the Judge ran in the direction of
driving the obnoxious "Mormons" indiscriminately from the
State. "The Mormons," he said, "must leave, or we will.
one and all."

There can be no doubt that great excitement prevailed
throughout all the counties adjacent to Caldwell, nor that in
fact many people believed that there existed abundant cause
for alarm. But that there was any real danger except, in-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 263

deed, to the Saints, no competent historian with the facts be-
fore him can justly maintain today. There was an unfortu-
nate combination of circumstances that threw a false light
over the motives and conduct of the Saints, which appeared
to justify the worst apprehensions of the non-"Mormon"
population.

One of these lay in the rancorous feelings of apostates.
Marsh, as. we have seen, testified before a justice of the
peace that the Prophet Joseph entertained bloody intentions
respecting the United States government, that the "Mor-
mons" had secret societies for the purpose of plundering and
murdering the Gentiles, and that the Saints would burn
BuncoinJbf and Richmond and Liberty, if they were not let
alone. It is probably unnecessary to state that the "Mor-
mons" never even thought of such a thing ; they were them-
selves very much alarmed. This affidavit was corroborated O
by Orson Hy.de. another of the Apostles. William E. M'Lel- *

lin, whose sentiments against his former friends were of the
most murderous character, joined the enemy, aiding, and
abetting them in every movement.

Another element of the combination against the Saints
was the rumor respecting the alleged ''Danite Barid." Acr
coxding to ^Sidney Rigdqn, there existed an organization
among some of those claiming membership in the Church,
the purpose of wliich was "mutual protection against the
bands that were forming and threatened to be formed for the
professed object of committing violence on the property and
persons of the citizens of Daviess and Caldwell counties."
They had their signs and passwords, which were secret, and
were bound by their own rules not to injure any one not ac-
tually engaged "in acts of violence against the persons or
property of their own number, or one of those whose life and
property they had bound themselves to defend." The
Prophet also refers to such an organization, though both he

264 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

and Rigdon positively disclaim any connection with the So-
ciety. From Joseph's language, one would infer that in the
hands of the unscrupulous Dr. Avard, its probable founder,
it promised to become a desperate and dangerous organiza-
tion. But when Avard's conduct in the matter came to light,
and when neither the men whom he endeavored to control
nor the Prophet and President Rigdon would do his bidding,
he was cut off the Church, after which he sought to attribute
to the "Mormon" leaders the horrible oaths of vengeance
that originated in his own vile heart. /iThere is not an iota
of evidence to show that this organization originated with
the Church, that it received any encouragement from any of
/C' the Church authorities, or that the society which was formed

'" at this time in Caldwell county committed, or intended to
\ commit, the crimes with which it is charged. On the con-
trary, if one hundredth part of the atrocities alleged to have
been committed by that short-lived and really defensible or,- .. ^
ganization in Missouri, are true, the institution, according to
every principle avowed, then and now, by "Mormonism,"
would plunge its members and all who encouraged it into
eternal perdition. But the false and utterly groundless
charges lodged against the Church on this score accom-
plished as much injury as if they were true.

A third source of irreparable mischief arose from the
low cunning of some of the mob, who laid at the doors of
the "Mormons'' their own acts of depredation. Finding
themselves thwarted on every hand, by regular troops, in
their attempts to expel the Saints from Daviess county, the
mob there, in imitation of a reprobate family at the Ht^ather-
ly settlement, in Mercer county, some two years before, ac-
^ tually set fire to their own log huts, and then sent up the cry

* that the Mormons had done it. In like manner they would
commit outrages on the "Alormons" whom they managed to
capture, in order to provoke an attack from the Saints, that

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 265

they might have a pretext on which to act. Besides, when-
ever a company of "Mormons," called out by the proper au-
thorities, went against a mob, the result was magnified be-
yond all recognition, as was the case in the. Creoked-ttver
affair. These slanders were eagerly taken up by jealous
preachers and scheming politicians and sent over the coun-
try in order to inflame the popular sentiment against the
Saints. The real facts never reached the general ear, or, if
they did, were never credited, as being inconsistent with
what the people had already heard concerning the "Mor-
mons" themselves.

The result of all this was that mobs arose in several
different parts of the country and marched into Daviess
Qounty. The mob that expelled the Saints from De Witt left
that place with the avowed purpose of securing the land
which the "Mormons" occupied. A mob, under a man
named Qi Ilium was already there with the same motive.
General Doniphan sent word to Far West that a body of
eight jiundred men was moving against the Saints in Daviess
county, and gave orders for the Caldwell militia to march
immediately to the scene of the difficulties. General Parks,
on his return from De Witt, ordered Colonel Wight with a
company to go against ajniob that was committing depreda-
tions at jVfjIlppftj with full authority to put a stop to mob
violence wherever he found any. This mob had burned a
house belonging to^ Don Carlos Smith, who was away on a
mission at the time, after having driven his wife and two
small children out into the snow. Before the intrepid Wight,
the mobs fled in consternation, burning their own huts on
the way, and sending runners throughout the country with
the false statement that "the Mormons had^^ riz."

Governor Boggs, acting upon the numerous letters that
reached him about this time, issued an order to General
Clark on the 26th of October, authorizing him to raise two

266 ONE HUNDRILD YEARS OF MORMONISM.

thousand men, with fifteen days' provisions, for the purpose
of crushing- "the armed force of Mormons," which had "ex-
pelled the inhabitants" of Daviess county from their homes,
"pillaged and burnt their dwellings, driven off the stock, and
destroyed their crops," and "burnt to ashes the towns of

Gallatin. aiid—Millport," destroying all the records of the

county ! Next day he received, from Messrs. Rees and Wil-
liams, "information of the most appalling character" con-
cerning the "open and defiant attitude" of the "Mormons'"
which "changed the whole face of things." And the hasty
autocrat thereupon issued his infamous "exterminating or-
der." "The Mormons," he declared, "must be treated as
enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state,
if necessary for the public good. Their outrages are beyond
all description. If you can increase your force, you are au-
thorized to do so, to any extent you may think necessary."

A Bloody Day.

On the 30th of October of this year there occurred ^ ]^aiin'g
-Mjll — a "Mormon"' settlement of about thirty families on
Shoal Creek about sixteen miles east of Far Weat in Cald-
well county — one of the most savage and dastardly massa-
cres that ever darkened the annals of human warfare.

It was a pleasant day. The children sported on the
banks of the creek, the women were busy with their house-
hold duties, the men were guarding the common property or
gathering in the winter's food. They felt reasonably safe
now from mob violence, for only last night the enemy made
an agreement not to molest them as long as they remained
quiet. Joseph had, however, advised them to come to Far
West, but having some property there, they were anxious
not to lose it ; and he acquiesced.

Suddenly, about ^^Ldock, from the woods a little north
of the town there hursTeura band of more than two hundred

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. '^('7

arnied men. IXuid F-vans ran out towards them waving'
his hat and crying peace. The leader fired a shot, which
was the only answer, followed by a pause of about
twelve seconds. Meantime, confusion reigned among the
"Mormons." Some ran into an unchinked log house used as
a blacksmith shop, others fled to the tents behind it, and still
others escaped to the bushes on the creek below the house.
Presently, the firing began. In all several hundred shots
were discharged, some at the retreating figures of the flee-
ing men, women, and children, but most through the door
and between the logs of the old shop. One_\^omaa was jshot
atj but was saved by falling over the trunk of a tree. AjruLu
drpppqd (;lead as he was clambering up the bank ofJij^
stream. Fifteen persons were wounded, some receiving five
others twenty-three bullets. The arm of this one was shot
off, the thigh or leg of that and another was most brutally
mangled. An aged veteran of the Revolution had remained
in front of faun's Jiouse, thinking that his past services in
defense of his native land would shield him from violence ;
but his foes knew not the tongue of bravery and manly for-
bearance, and so they snatched the gun from his hand and
shot him down with it, afterwards cutting and hacking the
old soldier's body with a corn-cutter. . But the scene in the
blacksmith shop was the most horrifying. Every avenue by
which harm could be inflicted was diligently sought out.
Two men, finding their comrades slain, drew their dead
bodies over them, and by the sickening strategem of feigning
death, escaped a similar fate. A boy of eight after seeing
his father and brother killed, imitated the example of the
two men, and escaped with his life, but was seriously wound-
ed in the hip. His brother's death had come about in a
singularly heartless manner. One of the mob had dragged
him — a boy of ten years — from beneath the bellows, whither
he had crawled for safety, and deliberately blew off the up-

268 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

per part of his head, with a rifle, afterwards explaining this
harrowing deed on the grounds that the boy would have
grown up a "Mormon !" ^t was no worse to shoot a "Mor-
mon," says Bancroft, speaking of the feelings of the average
Missourian of that time and locality, "than it was to shoot
an Indian, and killing Indians was no worse than killing wild
beasts.' Having disposed in this manner of all the live peo-
ple they could see, the mob withdrew, appropriating to their
own use everything valuable they could find — horses, bed-
ding, the contents of a trunk, and even a pair of new boots
worn by one of the dead men !

What a scene was there that night. When quiet and the
darkness came on, those who had escaped returned timidly
and warily. They searched for their relatives among the
slain and wounded, amid general grief and wailing. Next
morning the bodies were thrown into an old well and covered
with straw and earth, for the survivors of this day were in
constant apprehension lest the mob should return to finish
their horrible butchery. In this lamentable affair nineteen
persons were put to death.

The Treachery of a "Mormon" Colonel.
We have now reached the final stage of the "war." Far.
W^est. by tlie last of October, was crowded with Saints who
had fled thither for protection from mob violence in outlying
districts. Every house held two or three families, and there
were many who were compelled to live in tents and wagons.
Bedding, food, fuel, were divided by a generosity dictated by
common danger and suffering; for the people, in their pre-
cipitate flight from the settlements, had left their property to
satisfy the ranacity of those who had expelled them thence.
So that while they were making the best shift they could at
Far West for food and shelter, their fields of unharvested

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 269

grain and corn were tramnled down and their korses and
cattle either driven off or shot.

On the evening- of the 30th, just as the sun was disap-
pearing-, the citizens of thisltown might have been seen strain-
ing their eyes to distinguish an approaching body of men. At
first they conceived it to be their own company of one hun-
dred and fifty sent out that morning to reconnoitre and sur-
rounding country. But it was too large for that;
besides, there was apparently a train of baggage
wagons. Perhaps, then, it was a friendly troop cominor to
their aid^. Instead, however, it was the Governor's army
sent to execute his monstrous order of the 26th, of which this
was the first notification the "Mormon" people had received.
In answer to a truce-flag sent out by the mob-militia a mes-
senger went out from the city to meet him. "We want you
to send us three persons — the Lightner family — before we
destroy the rest!" The message was communicated to the
persons named, who were non-" Mormons." "The Mormons
have treated us fairly," they replied, "and we will die with
them." That night the Saints spent in throwing up a breast-
work of earth and logs and lumber between them and the
army. At the same time the troops, which already num-
bered more than two thousand, received additions in the ar-
rival of a large company fresh from the Haun's Mill massa-
cre, and Gillium's men all tricked out in the paint and feath-
ers of Indian~vvarriors, who had affectionately dubbed their
captain the "Delaware Chief."

Towards, evening on the 31st, the Prophet says he was
waited upon by Colonel Hinkle, who had charge of the Far
West militia, and who stated that the officers of the army
"desired to have an interview with him and some others, hop-
ing that the difficulties might be settled without having oc-
casion to carry into effect the exterminating orders." Ac-
cordingly ,_Jo^g]j__Sniiili. Sidney Rigdon, L^maa— W i gh t ,

270 ONE HUNDUED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Parjfy p Pratt ^ and George W. Robinson accompanied Hin-
kle to a point midway- between the city and the place of en-
campment. .Here Lucas was stationed with fifty militiamen
as a guard.

"General Lucas," said jthe Colonel as he reached the
spot^ "these are the prisopp^"'^ T agreed t,Q deliver to you."

The brethren were thunderstruck. They had been de-
coyed there by their treacherous friend with the assurance
that they were to confer with the officers respecting the set-
tlement of the difficulties between the "IMormons" and the
old settlers. General Lucas declares that Hinkle had solicit-
ed and obtained a secret conference with him, the upshot of
which was that the Colonel agreed (i) to give up the
Church leaders to trial and punishment, (2) to turn over all
the property of those who had taken up arms for the pur-
pose of paying for the damage done by them, (3) to see that
the whole body of "Mormons" consented to leave the state,
and (4) to give up all their arms, of whatever kind. This
man had, therefore, not only taken upon himself the awful
responsibility of settling the destiny of a whole people in
thus giving (some say bartering) away their liberty, but
used strategy and cunning to attain his evil ends.

The words we have quoted had no sooner left the
Colonel's lips than General Lucas ordered his guard to sur-
round the brethren — five in number and unarmed. Gillium's
warriors, imitating the actions as they had done the dress of
their savage prototypes, whooped and brandished their
weapons like so many frantic devils. Wight says that five
hundred guns were cocked and pointed at them on the in-
stant. All that night they lay out on the wet ground in a
heavy rain, listening to the oaths, curses, obscene jokes and
stories, and blasphemous language of their foul-mouthed
guard. Next morning they were joined by Hyrum Smith
and Amasa Lyman, also prisoners. That day (J^gjj^ a

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 271

"court-martial" was held, which comprised, besides the reg-
ular officers, sonie" seventeen preachers who took an active
part in the deliberations. The decision of this religio-mili-
tary body may be learned by Lucas's midnight order to Gen-
eral. Doniphan :

"You will take Joseph Smith and the other prisoners
into the public square of Far West, and shoot them at nine
o'clock tomorrow morning." To which the officer ad-
dressed, in a mighty burst of indignation, replied : "It is
cold-blooded murder. I will not obey your orders. My bri-
gade shall march for Liberty tomorrow morning at eight
o'clock ; and if you execute these men, I will hold you re-
sponsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God."

Majesty in Chains.

Tjiis bold stand on the part of General Doniphan probably
saved the lives of the seven brethren. For next morning
tliC}- were taken to Far AA'cst preparatory to leaving foxJn-
d^pendencc, Jackson county. The Saints gathered on the
public square to take a last look of their beloved leaders.
Inkier Pratt, under a guard of three militiamen, went to his
home. His wife lay in bed sick of a fever ; an infant was at
her breast and a little girl six years old by the bedside.
Thrown across the foot of the bed was a woman who had
sought the shelter of his home to endure the pains of ma-
ternity._. At sight of him his wife burst into tears. He en-
deavored to console her by assurances that he should not
suffer the death his enemies had pronounced upon him ; and
bade her, as he kissed away her tears, to try to live for his
sake and the children's. Embracing his little ones, he hastily
withdrew to open the floodgates of his. own grief. Ap-
proaching General Wilson, he described the condition of his
faVnily and begged not to be thus torn from them; but the
flint-hearted officer answered him with an exultant laugh and

272 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

a volley of curses. The scene in wliich Toseph and Hyrum
figured was not less heart-rending. They were not even per-
mitted to speak with their wives and children. They
yearned to administer a word of consolation to their stricken
families, and to assure them that God would give their ene-
mies no power over their lives ; but only the mute language
of the eye was permitted and the silent pressure of the hand.
Their aged parents were overwhelmed with sorrow at the
prospect of not seeing their sons again.

They were then driven t^Independence. under a strong
guard commanded by Generals Lucas and W.ilsonj_ who ex-
hibited them on the way, and also in the public streets of that
town, as trophies of honorable warfare ! They were lodged
chiefly at the Block House, though they received better treat-
ment than they had hitherto. Here they remained till the
Sth^when they were taken to RicTvmoiid for trial.

At Independence there occurred an incident which we
cannot forbear relating, as it indicates the mettle of which
so many of those early Saints were composed. Elder Pratt,
awaking one morning before any of the rest and seeing a fine
opportunity to make his escape, arose from his hard bed, on
the floor, pillowed by a block of wood, and went to the door.
This he found unlocked, for they were now but indiflFerently
guarded. Opening it, he stepped out, and closed it carefully
behind him. The snow was falling heavily. So much the
better, he thought, for my tracks will be obliterated. Deter-
mined to see how far he could carry this attempt to escape,
he left the jail, walking leisurely at first, then increasing his
pace, till finally he discovered himself to be running at a high
rate of speed. He stopped in a small grove about a mile out
from the town. Thoughts of freedom beat high in his
breast. He could escape to the east, send for his family,
and live in peace and happiness. Rut what would became of
his companions in the meantime No doubt they would lose

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 273

their lives. He would then he a worse traitor than Hinkle.
vSo he returned to his prison, greeting the hrethren and the
solitary guard with a cheerful good morning.

AtRichniond their , treatmeiit-was harsh. They were
thrust into what General Doniphan afterwards appropriate-
ly called a "bull pen." and chained together. They were
strongly guarded. Here they were visited by General Clark,
of whom we shall learn more presently. Of him they in-
quired concerning the charges on which they were to be
tried, and how, and when. By court-martial, Clark replied,
purposely evading the other two questions. Could ministers
of the gospel be tried in this manner, men who had never
been connected with any military organization ? They would
find out soon. The General himself, however, seemed not
to be altogether clear on this point. He labored in vain to
find authority for such a high handed procedure. Finally,
he delivered the brethren over to the civil law, and they were
notified that they were to be tried on the charges of "njur-
der, treason, burglary, arson, larceny, theft, and stealing."

It was here and under these circumstances that the
dramatic scene occurred, wdiich the limner's art and Elder
Pratt's pen have made so familiar to us all. "In one of
those tedious nights," says Parley, "we had lain as if in
sleep till the hour of midnight had passed, and our ears and
hearts had been pained, while we had listened for hours to
the obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies,
and filthy language of our guards, Colonel Price at their
head, as they recounted to each other the deeds of rapin,
murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the
'Mormons' while at Far West and vicinity. They even
boasted of defiling by force wives, daughters, and virgins,
and of shooting or dashing out the brains of men, women
and children. I had listened till I became so disgusted,
shocked, horrified, and so filled with the spirit of indignant

18

;i74 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

justice that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my
feet and rebuking the guards ; but had said nothing to
Joseph, or any one else, although I lay next to him and knew
he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke
in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near
as I can recollect, the following words :

" 'Silence, ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of
Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to he still; 1
zvill not live another minute and hear such language. Cease
such talk, or yon or I die this instant!'

"He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty.
Chained, and without a weapon; calm, unruffled, and digni-
fied as an angel, he looked upon the quailing guards, whose
knees smote together, and who, shrinking into a corner, or
crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and remained
quiet till a change of guards. I have seen the ministers of
justice, clothed in magisterial robes, and criminals arraigned
before them, while life was suspended on a breath, in the
courts of England ; I have witnessed a congress in solemn
session to give laws to nations ; I have tried to conceive of
kings, of royal courts, of thrones and crowns ; and of em-
perors assembled to decide the fate of kingdoms ; but dignity
and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at
midnight, in a dungeon in an obscure village of Missouri."

The trial of these brethren: was the merest farce. The
judge was Austin A. King, the district attorney a Mr. Birch,
both of whom hacTEeen active members of the court-martial
that had sentenced these very men to be shot. King proved
himself a veritable Jefferies. The country was dragged for
men who would testify against them — apostates and othei
enemies ; — and all the witnesses, according to the reports of
several, who were there sworn "at the point of the
bayonet." One of them said something, on the stand, about

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMON ISM. 275

the belief of the "Mormons" in Daniel's latterday kingdom
of God in its literal sense.

"Put that down," shouted the Court to the recorder,
'"it's a strong point for treason !" The examination for the
State occupied fifteen days.

Then the Judge said, turning to the prisoners : "Where
are your witnesses ?" They gave him a list of forty names.
The subpoenas were put into the hands of Captain Bogart,
who, with fifty men, proceeded to Far West. They brought
back nearly all whose names had been given. But they were
all clapped into jail. "Gentl^|ien." roared the Judge, ad-
dressing the seven brethren, "unless you produce your wit-
nesses you will be remanded to prison. We cannot hold
court open much longer." Twenty more names were given.
But the Saints at Caldwell, having been warned of the
court's tactics, evaded the military preacher, who, in conse-
quence, returned to Richmond with only one person. Like
the rest, he was thrust into jail. Still the Judge demanded
rebuttal testimony, and when it was not forthcoming threat-
ened to close the court next day. At this moment the pris-
oners happened to see a "Mormon" named Allen passing the
window. He was called in and reluctantly allowed to be
sworn. Bivt he was forcibly taken out of the house before he
could testify. And the courted j ourned.

It would be a tecfious repetition to follow in detail the ill-
fortune of these brethren further. From Richmond Joseph
and Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Caleb
Baldwin, and Alexander AlcRae were committed for treason
and sent to "THHerty JaJL in Cla\^ county ;^ while Parley P.
'Pratt^ Morris Phelps, Lyman Gibbs, Darwin Chase, and
Norman Shearer were detained in R'iclimond jail on the
charge of murder. The rest were either released or
admitted to bail, ^idney Rigdon, who had suffered
so much from sickness as "actually to derange his
mind for a time, was subsequently released. The

276 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Other five brethren in the first group were taken in
April, to_DaYiess county and tried. A jury of men
who had committed some of the most dastardly acts against
the Saints, and who, moreover, performed duty as guard at
night, indicted them for "treason, burglary, murder, arson,
theft, and stealing." The brethren were given a change of
venue to Boon county, for which Judge Birch made out a
mittimus without date, name, or place; and they were ac-
cordingly sent thither under a guard of five men. But one
night on the way one of the guards said, "I'm going to bed,
and you can do as you want to." He was so drunken as to
be perfectly helpless. Three more, in the same state of mind,
did the same. The fifth helped the brethren to saddle their
horses. And so they escaped, joining the Saints and their
families in Illinois, in the latter part of April, 1839, after an
incarceration of nearly six months, without having had a
trial. Parley P. Pratt, likewise untried during eight months,
escaped from prison on the fourth of July, of the same year,
and also his companions who had not been released before.

Another Exodus.

Meantime what had become of the Saints at Far West?
On the first of November the troops marched into the city,
or more properly speaking, were turned loose upon the in-
habitants of that town. They entered the houses of the
Saints unbidden, insulted the inmates, and took possession of
whatever articles struck their fancy. One of the conditions
of surrender arranged between Colonel Hinkle and General
Lucas was that all the arms, the private property of the
brethren, should be given up. The mob, therefore, for such
the soldiers were in character, "under pretense of searching
for arms, tore up floors, upset hay stacks, plundered the most
valuable effects they could lay their hands on, and wantonly
wasted and destroyed a great amount of property." Joseph

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 277

says that they entered his house, drove out his family, and
carried away most of what was in it. Members of this
militia, in their brutal lust, violated the chastity of wives and
daughters, under circumstances the most revolting-, after-
wards boasting of these unspeakable outrages in the pres-
ence of some of the brethren. One of the women was
months in recovering from the effects of this fiendish treat-
ment, and others, it is asserted, subsequently died from
shame and mortification at what they looked upon as their
disgrace. Many of the brethren were compelled at the muz-
zle of the rifle to sign dee^.ajQ£ -trust to pay th.e.exp£ni£s_ef
this "war." But they took joyfully the spoiling of their
goods. "Judge Cameron" according to Heber C. Kimball,
"said with an oath, 'See them laugh and kick up their heels.
They are whipped but not conquered.' " About eighty of the
brethren were taken prisoners.

On the sixth, General Clark delivered his now famous
address before the men at Far West. He went over the con-
ditions of the "treaty." The first two had been complied
with ; the leaders were in custody, and the arms had been
given up. Were it not done, he declared, their families
would now have been destroyed and their houses be in ash-
es. After comnlimenting himself upon his clemency in deal-
ing with them, he expressed his determination to execute the
Governor's order of banishment. Thev need have no hopes
for their leaders, he went on to say ; their fate was fixed,their
die was cast, their doom was sealed. He regretted extreme-
ly that "so many apparently intelligent men" were found in
their situation, and generously invoked "the spirit of the
unknown god" to rest upon and deliver them from that
"awful chain of superstition" and free them from "those
fetters of fanaticism" with which they were bound. He
counseled them to scatter out from now on and not again
"organize themselves with bishops and priests," lest they ex-

278 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

cite the jealousy of the people and bring down calamity upon
their heads. "You have always been the aggressors," he
said, "you have brought upon yourselves these difficulties,
by being disaffected and not beingi^ subject to_rule." Then
he left for Richmond, to seal the "doom" which he had pro-
nounced upon the "Mormon" leaders. "I was present when
that speech was delivered." exclaims Elder Kimball, "and I
can truly say, 'He is a liar and the truth is not in him !' "

From this time on, the most stringent restrictions were
put upon the actions of the Saints. They were not to collect
anywhere in bodies of more than five. Those in outlying
settlements were to go to Far West. The Saints at^Diah-
man had been given ten days in which to leave. And this
just after a number oflTie brethren had been tried and ac-
quitted by Adam Black ! No one was to pass from one set-
tlement to another nor out of the State without a signed per-
mit. Heber C. Kimball declares that one afternoon he sent
his son William on a short errand, when a guard threatened
"to blow out his brains if he stepped one inch further."
Committees of "Mormons" were appointed to gather up the
stock in Daviess county, and to remove other property from
there, each member wearing a badge on his hat by which he
might be recognized.

Meanwhile active preparations were making to leave the
State. In these, Apostle Brigham Young was..,ih£ -leader,
by reason of his position as head of the Church in the ab-
sence of the Fir^t Presidencv. Meetings of the brethren
were held at which they were required to express their senti-
ments concerning the work of the Lord ; resolutions were
adopted binding those present to aid the poor to leave Mis-
souri ; and afterwards petitions were circulated pledging the
signers to do all in their power to see that the needy were
provided for. Accordingly, there were manifested among
thfi Saints generallv during this trying peripd erreat un-^

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 279

selfishness, unity, and brotherly love. By April Missouri,
which had proved only a land of pilgrimage for them, held
but a few of the twelve thousand "Mormons" that had set-
tled within her borders.

Your Cause is Just, But —

When the legislature met in December, a committee of nine
drafted a petition, on behalf of the Saints, and forwarded it
to -the capital by D^yid H. Redman. This very able docu-
ment g-ave the principal points in the troubles that had oc-
curred between them and the other citizens both in Jackson
county and in Caldwell and Daviess counties, requested the
leg'islature to rescind the order of Qovernor Boggs to drive
them from the State, and asked for an appropriation suffi-
cient to cover the amount taken from them in arms, about
twelve thousanjd_dolIars. As to other damages they said
nothing, since it would be impossible to obtain satisfactory
evidence in the matter. The Governor in his message called
the attention of the law makers to the "late disturbances."

The petition, which was listened to with profound si-
lence, provoked a heated discussion. Some wanted an im-
mediate investigation of the whole affair, others took the
ground that the very petition was an insult to the legislature,
since it contained not a word of truth, and would best be got
rid of immediately. A committee was appointed to examine
and classify the documents relating to the difficulties, which
had been presented by the Governor with his message, for
the purpose of ascertaining the advisability of publishing
them. In its report to the legislature, this committee divided
these papers into (i) the affidavits and correspondence pre-
ceding each series of authorized military operations, (2) the
orders issued upon such evidence, (3) the military opera-
tions and correspondence consequent thereon, and (4) the
evidence taken before a court of inquiry, held for the investi-

280 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

gation of criminal charges against individuals. The com-
mittee thought it inexpedient "to prosecute further the m-
quiry into the causes of the late disturbances" and therefore
to publish any of the documents ; but suggested the appoint-
ment of a committee "to investigate the cause of said dis-
turbances, and the conduct of the military operations in sup-
pressing them." The report was adopted, and subsequently
such a committee was provided for by a bill introduced by
^r^ "Usurper, the chairman of the first committee, but it was
laid on the table by a vote of forty-eight to thirty-seven, and
never taken from it. When the session of 1840-41 met, the
Governor again referred to the "Mormon insurrection," ad-
vising the publication of such documents as would "explain
the attitude which we have been made to assume." A col-
lection was accordingly prepared covering one hundred and
sixty-two pages. "In the collection, however," says j. H.
Roberts, "there are none of the statements, petitions, or rep-
resentatinons made to the public or the legislature by the
Saints. The documents consist in part of the action of the
respective houses in the appointment of committees and re-
ports of those committees recommending investigations, etc. ;
of the reports and military orders of the militia generals ;
while the remainder of the pamphlet is made up of the ex
parte testimony taken before Judge King at Richmond, con-
cerning which testimony the Turner senate committee in re-
porting to the senate pronounced 'manifestly not such evi-
dence as ought to be received by the committee.' "

The legislature, however, did make an appropriation of
two thousand dollars to be distributed among the people of
Daviess and Caldwell counties, the "Mormons" not exclud-
ed ! The distributing committee "took a few miserable
traps, the sweepings of an old store," together with a num-
ber of hogs which belonged to the Saints and which they had
shot down and cut up without further bleeding, and divided

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 281

these among "the poor Mormons as part of the legislative
appropriation." Of these facts there is abundant proof.
During the same session two hundred thousand dollars was
appropriated to defray the expenses incurred in expelling the
Saints from.tlie State, in fulfillment of the Governor's exter-
minating order. ,

But the Saints were not satisfied with this disposition
of the matter. They appealed their case to the President and
Congress of the United States.

Some time in May, 1840, theProphet Joseph and Elias
Higjbfe went to \\'ashington for the purpose of laying their
g;"rievancps hefnre ^rp5;idpni- \ an Euren, reaching the na-
tional capital late in N^oveniber. They had in their posses-
sion numerous affidavits, covering all phases of the Missouri
affair, and also letters of introduction from prominent
western men to the chief executive and some of the law-
makers at Washington. Calling on the President, they re-
lated their tragic story, to which he calmly replied : "Gen-
tlemen, your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you. If
I take up your cause, I shall lose the vote of Missouri." He
was then meditating a second term. The brethren returned
home, with no very exalted notion of the President and his
Congress. Thus ended the last efforts of the Saints to ob-
tain redress for their great loss of property and life in that
State, and they rested their case with the Great Judge of all
the earth.

Retribution.

Without question the crimes committed against the Saints by
the people of Upper Missouri are to be charged mainly to
the cowardice of Dunklin and the knaverY pf Roggs. The
former refused to believe that any portion of his people
would be guilty of doing what he had ample proofs before
him that they were doing ; the latter, when odds against the

382 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Saints were the greatest, said, "The quarrel is between the
Mormons and the mob, and they must fight it out," and
afterwards upon extremely questionable evidence issued his
cruel and illegal edict to expel or exterminate, purposely se-
lecting leaders who would not scruple to carry out the order
to the last hideous detail. Both Governors could have
crushed the mob easily had the one possessed sufficient cour-
age and the other sufficient honor. But they chose to adopt
a different course, thus bringing upon the otherwise fair
name of the State a weight of eternal shame.

The measure which the State meted to the Latter-day
Saints — for the burden of guilt was shared now by the whole
State in her legislative indifference — "shall be measured to
them again." said Heber^C. jCimball ; "and upon those who
had a hand in our persecution and expulsion, and those who
consented to it, four-fold, full, running over, and pressed
down ; and as the Lord God Almight}^ liveth, I shall live Jo
see it come to pass." And Joseph the Prophet had already
declared that the Lord would "come out of his hiding-place
and vex the nation with a sore vexation." These predic-
tions were literally fulfilled in the horrors of the (^YJl.W^J-
And Missouri was literally baptized in fire and blpQ^.

Qovernor Boggs, in 1838, taking the legislative, execu-
tive, and iiuHcial powers in his own hands, issued his fright-
ful order for the expulsion or banishment of twelve thou-
sand people indiscriminately, at a cruel loss of property and
life. Governor Jackson, at the opening of the Civil War,
dragged the whole state into the Confederate ranks, after
the people in a regular convention had expressed their de-
termination to remain in the Union, and after the legislature
had refused to authorize his measures. Missouri presented
a "spectacle of a state plunged into secession and civil war,
not in obedience to, but in defiance of. the action of her con-
stitution and the express will of her people — not even by any

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 283

direct act of her legislature, but by the will of her executive
alone." And the result was a scene of violence and blood-
shed, unparalleled in an}'^ other state. General Fremont,
who had been sent out there by Lincoln to put down the re-
bellion, said in his report: "Circumstances, in my judgment,
of sufficient urgency, render it necessary that the command-
ing general of this department should assume the administra-
tive power of the State. Its disorganized condition, the
helplessness of the civil authority, the total insecurity- of life,
and the devastation of property by bands of m.urderers and
marauders, who infest nearly every county in the State, and
avail themselves of the public misfortunes and the vicinity
of a hostile force to gratify private and neighborhood ven-
geance, and who find an enemy wdierever they find plunder,
finally demand the severest measures to repress the daily in-
creasing crimes and outrages which are driving off the in-
habitants and ruining the State." The General's subsequent
measures there were so arbitrary and rigorous as to put him
in jeopardy for a time after the conclusion of the war; but
he was exonerated from blame in view of the prevailing
condition. Jackson county, especially, w^as the scene of
devastation and violence. Almost the whole country went up
in flames. Only the chimneys of the houses remained stand-
ing— dark sentinels of the burnt region. Even the inhab-
itants were driven off or taken prisoners.

"Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, and I will repay!"

PART THIRD.
Nauvoo the Beautiful.

, CHAPTER I.

:- RISING FROM THE ASHES.

Nothing exhibits better the marvelous recuperative pow-
er of "Mormonism" than the manner in which it flour-
ished in IlHnois. Stripped and peeled when they entered
that state, these Latter-day Saints almost immediately
sprang up into a community on the banks of the Mississippi
the like of which was not to be found in western America,
so happy and prosperous were they, with a city and a temple,
with institutions, civic, military, and religious, the wonder
and admiration of all who beheld them.

77/(7 Exiles at Qnincy.

For that journey from Caldwell couatv. in Missouri, had
proved a saddening affair. President Young, who had been
forced to flee the country before he had finished the prepara-
tions to move his people, left his family eleven times and re-
turned to aid those who were not able to go without assist-
ance. Samuel H. Sniith and seven other brethren were pur-
sued for many miles by a band of Missourians who had
sworn to do them violence, but who were prevented from ac-
complishing tlieir fell designs by th.e timely appearance of a
blinrling snow-storm. Their provisions having given out be-
fore they reached tb.eir destination, these brethren were com-
pelled to subsist on barks and buds. Joseph and Lucv Smith,
parents of the now imprisoned Prophet, had to borrow a

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 285

wagon and team with which to leave Missouri. During the
earlier portion of their journey, it rained incessantly, and in
the end it snowed several inches. Lucy says that she walked
a good part of the way to relieve the team ; and while waiting
to cross the Mississippi, they had to spread their beds on the
snow, and this white mantle they found also to cover them
next morning. The aged Patriarch, during these exposures,
cojitracted consumption, from which disease he died in Sep-
tember, 184Q, a victim of Missouri mobs. And the Smiths
were only one family in many hundreds to endure the suf-
ferings and hardships of this forced exodus.

Quinq}^-T1linnis■ was the immediate refuge of the exiles.
This town, with a population at the time of only a few thou-
sands, is situated on the east bank of the "Father of Waters,"
one hundred and sixty miles southwest of Chicago. The in-
habitants of this place, as indeed the people generally of the
state, were shocked at the conduct of Missouri toward the
"Mormons." The Quincy Argus dealt out unmeasured con-
demnation to Governor Bog^s, and his exterminating army.
"We could wish," it declared editorially "that Missouri's star
were stricken from the bright constellation of the Union."
The Governor of Illinois, too, — Carlin — approved "with en-
thusiasm" a plan of Sidney Rigdon's for impeaching Mis-
souri at the bar of the States, and gave him letters of intro-
duction to the nation's President and the Governor of Ohio,
as "a man of piety and a valuable citizen."

Unfortunately, however, charity seems not to have been
the only motive which led the Illinoisans to receive the out-
cast "Mormons. "They evidently had political and commercial
reasons as well for their humane actions. It was on the eve
of a presidential election, and the politicians were not slow
to see the advantage of having the "Mormon" vote on their
side. Thus, unconsciously perhaps to the Saints and their
benefactors alike, a snare was being laid before the feet of

'28G ONE IIUNDUI'.D VEAUS OF MORiMONISM.

the unwary "Alornions," into which they were unwittingly
to step a few years later. Howevcrj_Illinois, tlrough not a
railroad or a canal had been completed, was in debt more
than fourteen million dollars. "The impossibility of sell-
ing," observes Governor Ford in his History of Illinois,
"kept us from losing population; the fear of disgrace or high
taxes prevented us from gaining materially." The county of
Hancock, according to the census of 1830, contained fewer
than five hundred inhabitants as compared with thirty-two
thousand, in 1900.

The initiative step in welcoming the Saints was taken by
the Democratic Association of Ouincy. Several meetings
were held, at which resolutions were passed expressing sym-
pathy for the afflicted Saints. The society affirmed the
"rights of conscience" to have been grossly violated by "the
inhabitants of the western frontier of Missouri," and ad-
vised the people of Quincy to give material assistance to the
"Mormons," and Hkewise to abstain from the use of ex-
pressions that might wound the sensibilities of the new-
comers. And the Ouincyites were not slow to act upon this
advice, for they showed great kindness to them.

Our people on their part were careful not to abuse this
generosity. Apostle Taylor wrote a letter to the Argus ex-
pressing gratitude for the way in which the "MormonsJ^had
been treated, and warned the inhabitants of Ouincy and vi-
cinity against being imposed upon by persons who claimed
membership in the Church, but who had either been expelled
from the society for unchristian conduct or had never be-
longed to it. He disclaimed fellowship with those "who had
contracted habits which were at variance with principles of
moral rectitude"^ — from whom the people of Ouincy stood
most in danger — and those also who were inclined "to
abuse philanthropy and benevolence" by endeavoring "to
work up the feelings of the charitable and humane, get into

ONK HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 38'J'

their debt without any prospect or intention of paying," and
then shifting the odium of bad character upon the (Hiurch.

Coinnierce.

Meanwhile efforts were being made to find a new home for
this wandering nation of "Mormons." Before the arrival of
the Prophet, in the latter p^irt of April, nothing definite had
beenjdone, though two conferences had been held — one in
February and another in April — to consider some offers of
land bj_a. Dr. IsaacjGalJaild- But two days had not passed
since Joseph's coming- before he. J^ishofi Knigli]^ and .^J^ili
^igjj^ifljfiy were on their way to examine the tracts of land
offered for sale. This resulted in the purchase of two farms
of Dr. Galland ; one of jone hundred and thirty-five acres for
fivejthousand dQllai"s ; and another, a larger one, for nine
thousand. This was at what was called PQUJjuecce. Subse-
quently, other purchases were made, one especially of five
hundred acres for fifty-tliree thousand dollars. All were on
easy terms, the latter, for instance, one-half in ten years, and
the rest in twenty years. Later, a tract of land, some twenty
thousand acres in Lefi-CQUn^y;^ lowa^. was.,b£iught. And there
were still other purchases made.

Commercewas situated, about niiy iiiiles alwne Quincy,
and lay in a majestic curve, of the Mississippi, half encir-
cled by water. For a mile or so eastward from the river the
ground rose gradually and then broke off into a waving
prairie, extending for n:any miles and covered with a varie-
ty of flowers. But this part of the country was at the time
unfavorable for human habitation, though a few cabins had
been erected there. "The land was mostly covered with
trees and bushes, and much of it was so wet that it was with
difficulty that a footman could get through, and totally im-
possible for a team." Nevertheless, with that keen awareness
to a fine situation which has always characterized the leaders

288 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

of the Church, Joseph chose this place at which to build a
city. Opposite Commerce, across the river wa<; Montrose,
where were some old barracks.

As soon as this selection of a site for their new home
had been made, the Saints began gathering there. At first,
families occupied all the old houses, that were available, some
lived in tents and wagons and others were satisfied with the
open air. Aj)ostl: s W'w.odrufl and Young, with their families
occupied a room, fourteen feet square, at Montrose, former-
ly used by the soldiers ; and when the latter moved into other
quarters with his wife and children, Orson Pratt and- his
family moved into it witkErotlier Woodruff.

It was here and under these conditions that what Presi-
dent Woodruff called a day of God's power, occurred, July
22. i8.^Q. The shattered system of the Saints proved too
weak for the ravages of disease germs lurking in the place,
and almost everybody there became ill. Joseph had given
up his house to the sick and lodged in a tent in the door-yard.
On the morning of this day he arose, after reflecting upon
the sufferings of the Saints and praying that God would
mitigate these, and began a marvelous course of healing.
First^Jie administered to the sick in his own house and- door-
yard, then those^on the east side of the river, afterwards, with
a number of the Twelve, crossing over to Montrose. ^ii^£&-
covered under his Ji^nds. Oiie case is. especially noticeable.

Elijah Fordham lay, at Montrose, unconscious, with the
death-gTaze in his^^e. He had been dying for an hour, and
every moment was thought to be his last. Joseph and his fel-
low apostles entered the room where he lay.

"Elijah, do 3^ou know me?" asked the Prophet. At first,
he received no answer, but repeated the question till the sick
man, under the influence of the Spirit, rallied and said, faint-
ly that he did.

"Have you faith to be healed ?"

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 289

"I am afraid it is too late. If you had come sooner, I
think it might have been."

"Do you beheve that Jesus is the Christ?"

"I do. Brother Joseph, I do."

Then the Prophet, "as with the voice of God," uttered
the words : "Ehjah, I command you, in the name of Jesus
of Nazareth, to arise and be made whole."

And the sick man arose, leaping from his bed, asked fnr
and ate some food, and followed the brethren on their tt.'ur
of healing.

As Joseph was about to return to Commerce, a man
came up,a non-" Mormon, "having heard of this strange mira-
cle, and asked that the Prophet heal his twins at his home
two miles distant. JjD^£pli,-.taking out a handkerchief from
his pocket, gave it to Brother Woodruff with the request aiat
1k' ])ut it upijn the children's faces as he administered to them,
i-pmarking at the Same time, "As long as you keep that
handkerchief, it shall remain a league between you and me."
Apostle Woodruff did as the Prophet directed, and the chil-
dren were healed.

^" Apnl, tRjo the name Commerce was ci longed to
_NauvoQ. The word was declared by the Prophet" J oseph to
signify "beautiful" with an idea also of rest. By June of this
year, two hundred and fifty houses had been built there.

The Groivth of the City.

In ^ecember, 184.0. the legislature passed.a bill incorporat-
ing the City of Nauvoo. The charter was the work chiefly
of the Prophet, who said that he had made it "on principles
so broad, that every honest man might dwell secure under
its protecting influences." And indeed it was a noble instru-
ment. It provided for a city council consisting of a mavor,
four aldermen, and nine councilors to be elected by the quali-
fied voters of the city. Every religious society, of whatever

290 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

name or nature, was guaranteed protection. "Should any
person," one section declared, "be guilty of ridiculing and
abusing, or otherwise deprecating another, in consequence of
his religion, or of disturbing or interrupting any religious
meeting within the limits of this city, he shall, on conviction
before the mayor or municipal court, be considered a dis-
turber of the peace, and fined in any sum not exceeding five
hundred dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding six months, or
both, at the discretion of said mayor and court."

The first election was held in the following February.
^cfhr] C. "Rpnnett was chosen mayor; William M.ark.s. Sam-
uel H. Smith, Daniel H. Wells, and Newel K. Whitney, were
made aldermen; Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rjg-
don, Charles C. Rich, John T. Barnett, Wilson Law, Don
Carlos Smith, J. P. Greene, and Vinson Knight, were elect-
ed councilors. The mayor was a physician who had recent-
ly joined the Church and who had performed some valuable
services to the "Mormon" people in connection with the
charter. But we shall hear more of him anon. Daniel H.
Wells, who was a non-"Mormon" at the time, had been liv-
ing at Commerce for a year or so before the settlement of
the Saints there. The first two acts of the new city govern-
ment were an expression of gratitude to the legislature for
granting the charter and to the people of Quincy for their
kindness, and an ordinance prohibiting the sale of intoxicat-
ing liquors in Nauvoo.

The charter provided also for the organization of an in-
dependent militia to be called the NauvQQ, . Legion . This
military body, said the Prophet in an epistle to the Saints
abroad, "embraces all our military power, and will enable us
to perform our military duty by ourselves, and thus afiford
us the power and privilege of avoiding one of the most fruit-
ful sources of strife, oppression and collision with the world.
It will enable us to show our attachment to the State and Na-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 291

tion, as a people, whenever the public service requires our
aid, thus proving ourselves obedient to the paramount lav;s
of the land, and ready at all times to sustain and execute
them." The election of officers resulted in the choice Qijo;;:.
segh ^mith for lieutenant-general ; Tohn C. Bennett, major-
^;eneral; Wilson Law, brigadier-general of the first cohort;
and Don Tarlns Smith brigadier-general of the second co-
hort. Subsequently, these men received commissions from
the Goyernor.. Iq 1844 this body of militia numbered about
five thous'and men.

Provisions w'cre also made by this charter "for the
teaching of the arts and sciences, and learned professions"
at a university to be established within the limits of the city.
Soon after the machinery of the city government were set,
the council passed an ordinance according to which a chan-
cellor and regents were appointed. There were no funds at
the time either for buildings or equipments, but a site was
chosen and plans drawn for the proposed structure.

Meantime, ecclesiastical organizations were eflfectcd.
The twelve thousand and more Saints in Illinois who settled
chiefly in Adams and Hancock counties, in that state, and in
Lee county, Iowa, were augmented from time to time by
Saints from England, who began emigrating in 1840.. In
this year about two hundred and forty arrived at Nauvoo j
in 1841, nine hundred; in 1842, nearly t\\^e]v£. hundred ; in
1843, between seven and eight hundred; and it is estimated
that while the "Alormons" lived in Illinois, about five thou-
sand Saints emigrated from the old world. Nauvoo rapidly
grew into the larp-est citv in the state haying a population

As early as October, 1839, two stakes were organized,
one on the Illinois and the other on the Iowa side of the
river. The former was presided over by William Marks, the
latter by Tnhf^ Small- In the following year othw stakes

292 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

were organized in Hancock, Adams, and Morgan counties,
but in May, 1841, all stakes outside of .Lee and Hancock
counties, were abandoned and the Saints advised to come to
the latter county. The city, too, was divided into wards,
wdth bishops and counselors.

Quorums, likewise, were made complete. The death,
in September, 1840, pf_ Joseph _Smitlu_5£ll.j had left vacant
the ofifice of Patriarch to the Church, and there were six
vacancies in the quorum of Twelve. . Hvrum Smith, who had
been second counselor to Joseph since the removal of Fred-
erick G. Williams, was made Patriarch, WiiHiarn Law taking
his place in the First Presidency. John Taylor. John E.
Page, Willard Ricliards, Wilford_Woodruff, George A.
Smithj and Lyman Wight were ordained apostles and mem-
bers of the quorum of Twelve, during this Nauvoo period.

In May, 1842, the Female Reli_ef, Society was organ-
ized, with Emma Smith as President ; Elizabeth Ann Whit-
ney, and Sarah M. Cleveland, counselors ; Elvira Cowles,
treasurer; and Eliza R. Snow, secretary. Its object was to
help the poor, nurse the sick, relieve the wants of the widows
and orphans, and to exercise all benevolent functions. This
organization has since become one of the great institutions in
the Church. In March of the following year, a Young Gen-
tlemen's and Ladies' Relief Society was organized, with
William Cutler as its president ; but this organization has no
existence at present.

Nor did the Saints neglect the work of the press. In.
November, 1839, a monthly periodical called the 2jM£^Ji^
Seasons^ was begun, with Don Carlos Smith as editor and
manager. Later, Joseph himself l)ecame editor, but when he
became too busy with the increastd duties of President, he
resigned the editorial chair to John Taylor. William Smith,
in A|2rj|, ,t8/|2 established a weekly paper J^hr Wnsp which,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 293

in May, 1843, became the Nauvoo Neighbor, with John
Taylor as editor.

Thus Nauvoo rose very quickly from the marshland,
reaching its high water mark of splendor in 1844: and the
"Mormon" Church assumed proportions in Illinois such as
the most sanguine expectations would not have predicted in
that melancholy winter of 1838-9. "The curve in the river,"
observes Josiah Quincy, who visited the city a few days be-
fore the Prophet's death, "enclosed a position lovely enough
to furnish a site for the Utopian communities of Plato or Sir
Thomas More, and here was an orderly city, magnificently
laid out, and teeming with activity and enterprise." A great
community had here reared "handsome stores and comfort-
able dwellings," with a temple^— "a wonderful structure" —
under way on the brow of the elevation which over-looked
the city. The' fame of Nauvoo went abroad, and tourists
carne from all parts of America and from Europe to see the
marvels that^ the "Mormon" Prophet and his people had
wrought. And that work had indeed been nothing short of
miraculous. That a few thousand people, straggling into
Illinois in 1839, homeless and without property, fleeing from
the enraged feelings of their old-time neighbors across the
borders, should in so brief a period have built up such a city
and such a community as Nauvoo was at this time, is surely
one of the great material enterprises of a great industrial
age. It was a veritable rising from the ashes.

Having thus given a general idea of the growth of Nau-
voo, we may now project upon this background the various
scenes of activitv to which this famous citv was a witness.

CHAPTER II.

"across the great waters."

First, however, it will be necessary to speak of two im-
portant missions that were taken into foreign countries by
members of the Twelve — one to Jerusalem, in Palestine, and
another to England.

The Return of Israel.

Probably no people who are not themselves Jews are so much
concerned in the Jewish race as the Latter-day Saints. In-
deed, the fortunes of these two peoples are very closely con-
nected. This is partly because the latter, according to patri-
archal blessings, are mainly descended from the tribes of
Israel ; partly because of the relation that will exist between
the Zion of the New World and the Zion of the Old when
both are established. At all events, the Saints have always
been deeply interested in everything that is associated with
the Promised Land and the wandering nations of Judah.

At a conference held at Commerce in x'\pril, J840, Agps-
tle Orson^j^vHe was appointed to a mission to P^alesliae.
What first led to this, most likely, was a vision he once had,
in which he saw himself standing on the Mount of Olives
pouring out blessings upon the land preparatory to the re-
turn of the Jews, as predicted in their Record. Leaving
Nauvoo in the middle of this month, he journeyed through
the States "without purse and scrip," preaching by the way,
crossed the sea to England, passed through Germany, where
he remained some time studying the language, went thence
to Constantinople, Cairo, and Alexandria, and, after endur-
ing many hardships, finally reached j[erusalem in October,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 295

jS^Oj. He stood upon the sacred Mount, as he had seen him-
self in vision, and prayed that God would remove the curse
from the Holy Land, and plant in the hearts of the Children
of Jacob a desire to build up the waste places of their native
country. According to the ancient custom of this people, he
erected a pile of stones in witness of what he had done. He
did the same on Mount Zion. Then he returned to his peo-
DJedn. America.

It may be of interest to know that when Elder Hyde
performed this apostolic act of dedicating the land of Pales-
tine, there were no indications of what has since become an
immense tide of Jewish immigration to their ancient home.
In 1841 there were only a few huts on the site formerly oc-
cupied by the City of the Great King, whereas it has now a
population of between sixty and seventy thousand; besides
throughout Palestine the Jews "are buying farms and estab-
lishing themselves in a surprisingly rapid manner." The
Spirit of gathering has been poured out upon this ill-starred
race, and they are burning to reunite under the banner of
their ancient name. It is a curious fact, however, that they
do not, as a rule, admit that they gather in fulfillment of
prophecy, nor to prepare for any coming event; but never-
theless they have been actuated by a common impulse to re-
build their historic cities and possess once more a govern-
ment of their own. And in this hope they are aided mater-
ially by some of the wealthiest men in the world.

The English Mission.

On thp pfli pf Jp]y i^jg, while the Saints were yet in Mis-
souri, there had been given a revelation (section 118) to the
Prophet which, in addition to calling Elders Taylor. Page,
Woodruff, and Rjchards to the apostleship, requested the
Twelve to depart next spring "over the great waters" to
promulgate the gospel, taking "leave of my Saints in the city

296 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Far West, on the 26th day of April next, on the building
spot of my house, saith the Lord."

But by "April next" nearly all the Saints had been
driven from Missouri, and the Prophet Joseph was languish-
ing, with many of his brethren, in a dungeon. Some of the
Twelve felt, therefore, that the untoward circumstances in
v) which the people were thrown did away with the necessity
•of fulfilling this word of prophecy. But the majority said,
"It is a revelation of God, and must be obeyed." The mob,
however, kept informed, by apostates, of the "secrets" of the
"Mormons," swore that if every other prediction of "old
Joe Smith's" should be fulfilled, they would see that this one
failed, for it had place and date specified. Nevertheless^^
Elders Young, Ilimball, Orson Pratt, Taylor,., Page, Wopd;
rjiff, and George A. Smith, taking different roads, met with
a^ew Saints at Far West, while the mob were quietly sleep-
ing away the early morning hours. Thirty-one persons were
excommunicated from the Church, the foundation of the
Lord's house "was recommenced," Elders Woodruff and
Smith were ordained to the apostleship, the apostles, in turn,
offered up "vocal prayer," and after singing "Adam-ondi-
Ahman," they took leave of the Saints, "according to the
revelation !"

But they only left Far West on this occasion. There
was too much going on beyond the Mississippi for them to
aepart mimediately for Europe. As soon, however, as possi-
ble— nay, before less courageous and faithful men would
have thought it possible — they were on their way to a for-
eign nation to preach the gospel.

On the first day of July, 18^^, the First Presidency held
a meeting at Brigham "Young's house in Montrose, which
was attended by nine of the Apostles. Here the outgoing
missionaries were blessed, as were also the wives of some of
them. Joseph gave the brethren some words of advice,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 29t

which are worth quoting both for their inherent vakie
and also for the Hght they throw upon his character. "Ever
keep in exercise," he says, "the principle of mercy, and be
ready to forgive on the first intimation of repentance and
desire for forgiveness ; then our Heavenly Father will be
equally merciful unto us." After advising them to be hum-
ble so that they might be strong, he went on to say, "Act
honestly before God and man ; beware of sophistry, such as
bowing and scraping unto men in whom you have no confi-
dence. Be honest, open, and frank in all your intercourse
with mankind." As a key to the Saints generally, as well as
to these few missionaries, "in all their trials, troubles, tempta-
tions, afflictions, bonds, imprisonment, and death," he gave
the following: "See to it that you do not betray Jesus
Christ, that you do not betray the revelations of God, wheth-
er in the Bible, Book of Mormon, or Doctrine and Cove-
nants, or any of the words of God, lest innocent blood be
found upon your skirts, and you go down to hell !" And these
noble words, let it be remembered by those who would inter-
pret this great soul, were uttered in a private council of
twelve men, and written down by one of them immediately
afterwards.

Apostles WQjQJxuff- ^id^.Taylor were the first to leave
Ij^auvoo for their mission. It was on the Sth^QjLAugn&t,
1839, at the very time when the Saints were strenuously en-
deavoring to wrest from the marshes of Commerce sufficient
health and vitality to build a home. Wilford was suffering
with the ague, which attacked him every alternate day. Nev-
ertheless, he bade farewell to his beloved wife and started on
his way to Europe, "looking more like a subject for a dissect-
ing room than a missionary." Elder Taylor was physically
well, but agitated by reflections concerning the separation
from his family. "The thought of the hardships they had
just endured," he says, "the uncertainty of their continuing

298 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

in the house they then occupied, the prevalence of disease,
tlie poverty of the brethren, their insecurity from mobs, to-
gether with the uncertainty of what might take place during
my absence, produced feelings of no ordinary character." On
the skirts of the new setttlement at Commerce, they came
upon Parley P. Pratt, stripped of hat, coat and vest,and shoes
and stockings, hewing logs for a house. Having no money
he gave them a purse. Presently they drove up to Hebf r_C-
Kimball who was at the same work and in nmch the same
dress — or rather undress — whp-.g-ave them a dollar, to put
into their purse. At Indianapolis, Elder Taylor was taken
violently ill, and was compelled to remain at Germantown,
Indiana, for two or three weeks ; while Elder Woodruff, still
suffering almost daily attacks from chills and fever, proceed-
ed on his way. He reached New York November^!.

A few days after the departure of these two brethren.
Apostles Parley P. and Qrson Pratt left Nauvoo, "journey-
ing, says the former, "in our own private carriage, drawn by
two horses !" At Philadelphia, they had the pleasure of see-
ing President Smith, who was then on his way to Washing-
ton to lay before the national authorities the Missouri trou-
bles. At this city. Parley P. Pratt had many conversations
with the Prophet, of which the marriage relation was the
chief topic. "It was from him," the apostle says, speaking
of this time "that I learned that the wife of my bosom might
be secured to me for time and eternity; and that the refined
sympathies and affections which endeared us to each other
emanated from the fountain of divine eternal love. It was
from him that I learned that we might cultivate these affec-
tions, and grow and increase in the same to all eternity ;
while the result of our endless union would be an offspring
as numereous as the stars of heaven, or the sands of the sea
shore."

While they were here, meetings were held by the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORAIONISM. 299

Prophet, Sidney Rigdon, and Elder. Pratt, at one of which
Joseph spoke in snch a powerful manner as to draw the fol-
lowing comment from Parley : When Sidney was through
speaking, "Joseph arose like a lion about to roar; and being
full of the Holy Ghost, spoke in great power, bearing testi-
mony of the visions he had seen, the ministering of angels
which he had enjoyed; and how he had found the plates of
the Book of Mormon, and translated them by the gift and
power of God." A profound impression was made by this
sermon, on the large congregation. They were "astonished,
electrified, as it were, and overwhelmed with a sense of the
truth" which the inspired preacher had uttered. A great
many people were baptized in Philadelphia and vicinity, and
branches established, chiefly through the labors of an elder
named \!^inchester. This circumstance is worthy of note
as indicating the force and earnestness of the Prophet's
words and presence.

It was not till the middle of September that Apostles
_BnghaiiL_Ynung and Heber C. Kimball began their journey.
Both were weak and emaciated with sickness. The former
had not strength enough to walk the few rods from his house
to the ferry-boat, and when he reached Tj[ehpr_ C'r hnnsp,
over the river, he lay there prostrate for several days. His
wife and children were sick, like himself, and had little to
keep them during the absence of their father and husband.
Brother Kimball's family, also, were "down with the fever."
His wife was prostrate on her bed, and the only well child
was the junior Heber who could "with difficulty," carry a
small bucket of w^ater to quench the others' burning thirst.
But these brethren bade farewell to their families in this
condition and began their dismal journey towards New
York. At Quincy they were compelled to stay for a few
days on account of their physical condition. By the most

300 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

singular makeshifts they managed to reach Richmond,
Indiana.

"When we arrived here," says Heber's journal, "we had
means to take us to DaytoH, to which place we proceeded and
tarried over night, waiting for another line of stages. We
expected to stop here and preach until we got means to pur-
sue our journey. Brother Brigham went to his trunk to get
money to pay the bill, and found we had sufficient to pay our
passage to Columbus, to wdiich place we took passage in the
stage and tarried over night. When he paid the bill he
found he had sufficient means to pay our passage to Wor-
cester. We tarried till the after part of the day and then
took passage to Worcester. When we arrived there, Brother
Brigham went to his trunk again to get money to pay our
bill, and found sufficient to pay our j^assages to Cleveland."
Out of thirteen and a half dollars that they had when they
left Pleasant Garden, beyond Richmond, they found on look-
ing over their expenses, that they had paid out over eighty-
seven dollars! "Brother Brigham," declares Heber, "often
suspected that I put the money in his trunk, or clothes ; think-
ing that I had a purse of money which I had not acquainted
him with. But this was not so ; the money could only have
been put in his trunk by some heavenly messenger, who thus
administered to our necessities daily as he knew we needed."

Apostle George A. Smith, who with Ruben Hedlock and
Theodore Turley, left about the same time as Elders Young
and Kimball, had an equally heroic struggle with disease. As
the three brethren were journeying painfully along, their
wagon upset, tipping them down the river bank. Elders
Smith and Turley were actually too weak to rise, and had to
be helped by their companion who was a trifle stronger.
They pursued their way once again. A passer by, with cruel
humor, asked the driver if he had been robbing a graveyard !

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 301

But he replied that they were only "Mormon" elders on their
way to Europe to preach.

Arriving at New York, all of the Apostles remained
there some time doing missionary work, before going over
the sea. Elders Taylor, Woodruff, and Turley embarked on
Deccml)cr iQtli, iS^g, the rest following three months later.

It will be remembered that in Ajjril, 1838 Heber C.
Kimball, Orson Hyde, and Isaac Russell had sailed from
England after an eight months' mission there, leaving the
\vbrT<~ih charge of Joseph Fielding, Willard Richards, and
William Clayton. WHiat had these brethren been doing be-
tween this time and the arrival of the Apostles in 1840?
Elder Clayton had gone to Manchester and in course of a
few months "raised up" there a large and flourishing branch ;
Elders Mulliner and Wright had opened up the work in
Scotland ; while the branches in and around Preston had re-
ceived large additions. But some opposition had manifested
itself. A sister Alice Hodgin had died at Preston ; where-
upon Elder Richards was arrested for "killing and slayin^
the said Alice with a black stick." When, however, during
the trial, it appeared that his accusers' bad characters would
be laid bare, he was summarily dismissed.

On the j^th of April. 1840. a council of the Apostles
was held at Preston, at which Willard Richards, who had
been called to the apostleship by revelation, was ordained a
member of that quorum. Next day a conference was held at
the same place. There were present eight of the Twleve
Apostles — Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Parley P.
Pratt, Orson Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George
J^. Smith, and. WiHard -Richards.' On this occasion, it was
decided to publish a monthly periodical to be called The Lat-
ter-day Saints' Millennial Star, with Parley P. Pratt as
editor. A committee, consisting of Elders Young, Parley P.
Pratt, and Taylor, was appointed to make a selection of

302 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

hymns. Another committee, composed of Elders Young,
Kimball, and Parley P. Pratt, was named to publish an edi-
tion of the Book of Mormon. The" conference was in session
three days.

And now the American missionaries separated. Elder
Heber C. Kimball was appointed to visit the branches which
he had been instrumental in establishing on his first mission
here, Orson Pratt to labor in Scotland, John Taylor to con-
tinue at Liverpool ; Parley P. Pratt to edit the Star; George
A. Smith to the Potteries ; Wilford WoodruflF, Brigham
Young, and Willard Richards to Herefordshire.

To follow these brethren into their respective fields of
labor would require too much space in a general work on the
history of the Church, though such a detailed study would
prove exceptionally interesting no less than instructive. But
we may indicate some of the results accomplished by them in
their various conferences. '

At Liverpool Elder Taylor did a good work. By the
time the second group of elders arrived he had baptized
about thirty persons, and this number soon increased to more
than one hundred. He also preached the gospel in Ireland
and the Isle of Man, where it had never been proclaimed be-
fore in this dispensatioin. Not many were brought into the
fold at these latter places.

The London conference was organized during this time
by Apostles Kimball, WoodruflF, and Smith. It was a long
time before they could get an opening, on account of the
prejudice of sectarian preachers. Elder Kimball had come
here from his labors with the Saints at Preston and vicinity,
Elder Woodrufif from his successful work in Herefordshire,
and Elder Smith from his field at the Potteries. So they had
each had experience that stood them well in hand. President
Young also came here and labored for a week or ten davs.
But the ice was broken, as Hcbcr declared after having

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 303

preached to a large crowd in the streets one afternoon with
great success. Then, too, a sufificient evidence that there
were many souls that would embrace the truth in the great
metropolis was given them in the experience which Apostle
Woodruff and later^Elder Lorenzo Snow had with evil spirits
— an experience very similar to that which Elders Kimball
and Hyde went through when the work at Preston was first
begun. Upon the departure of the Apostles from London,
Elder Snow was put in charge of the conference, and shortly
afterwards he reported a membership of more than four
hundred. So that "Mormonism" was pretty well established
there.

The greatest success, however, had attended the labors
of F^dP'" Wnndrnff He had gone to Herefordshire by direct
command of the Lord, almost as soon as he had landed,
which was in January, three months before the second group
of missionaries arrived. There he found a society called the
"L^nited Brethren," a body of about six hundred persons, in-
cluding forty-five preachers, that had broken away from one
of the Methodist branches. They were waiting, they said,
for the true Church, which they firmly believed would come
to them. So great was the desire to hear the new preacher
from America that the churches in the neighborhood were
empty of a Sunday. One rector in the vicinity of Hill Farm
sent a constable to arrest Elder Woodruff for preaching.
But the officer was_conyert£d^t the meeting, and, returning,
told the minister that he would have to get some one else to
serve the warrant. Then the rector sent two clerks of the
parish, as spies, to attend the meetings held by the Apostle.
"But they were pricked in their hearts and received the word
of the Lord gladly." As a last resort, the angry clergyman
sent for advice to the ^jxllbishop of Canterbiiry, for the
"]\Iormons" had, he declared, turned fifteen hundred per-
sons away from the Church of England. That ecclesiastical

304 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

dignitary, however, counseled the rector to pay more atten-
tion to the saving of souls and less to the ground where the
foxes, hares, and hounds were wont to run. And Elder
Woodruff, meantime, continued his good work of baptizing
the people and organizing them into branches. During the
pi^l\\ montlis that he labored in this district, h^.^bapti.2:£*^
more than eighteen hundred persons, including all the six
hundred "United Brethren" except one person. Among
these converts were some two hundred preachers of various
denominations. "The whole history of this Herefordshire
mission," declares this man of the simple life, "shows the
importance of listening to the still small voice of the Spirit
of God."

This was a great mission that these eight Apostles per-
formed. An edition of five thousand copies of the Book of
Mormon had been published, an edition of three thousand
hymn books, the Millennial Star had been established, fifty
thousand tracts printed and distributed, a permanent emigra-
tion agency provided for, one thousand souls had gathered to
Zion, and between seven and eight thousand persons brought
into the Church !

On the 20th of April, 1841, Brigham Young, Heber C.
Kimball. Orson Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff,
George A. Smith, and Willard Richards embarked for home
on the ship Rochester, leaving Elder Parley P. Pratt to edit
the Star, and to nreside over the British mission.

:' CHAPTER III.

A LULL IN THE STORM.

With the exception of attempts on the part of Missouri
to entrap the Prophet, and a bit of archtreachery that oc-
curred at Nauvoo, the years lying between i8^-^^ and 1844
were a period of singular peace and prosperity for the body
of the Church. They purchased land and built thereon some
comfortable, even beautiful homes; they had a thriving city
which was fast becoming famous ; they enjoyed the good-
will, if not the confidence, of the leading men of the state ;
and an uninterrupted stream of emigration increased their
population beyond their hitherto fondest dreams. Hence it
is that we have here some important spiritual events to
chronicle.

A Great Thought-Period.

If the doctrines of "Mormonism" were examined with a view
to classifying them on the basis of their importance, it would
be found that there is no principle, really fundamental in its
character, but was revealed through the Prophet Joseph
Smith. And of those basic truths it is doubtful whether a
single one could be pointed out that was not either first made
known during this Nauvoo period of our history or devel-
oped at this time from hints previously given. Accordingly,
any one who studies carefully this stage of the Restoration,
will be struck with the fact that it is pre-eminently a thought-
period, rather than one of outward activity.

Nor need we be at all surprised at this. Joseph stands
at the head of this dispensation, as Adam stands in the fore-
front of the human race. And he was singularly spiritual in

his nature, statements to the contrary bv his enemies not-
20

306 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

withstanding. Xot. of course, in the sense that Swenborg or
even Emerson was, whose ideas were too subtle and specu-
lative to be of great use to the multitude ; but spiritual in the
sense that he could grasp the fundamentals of the theolog-
ical-science. And that these larger truths should either come
to him or be made clearer and more practical during this
period of his life, is not astonishing considering the external
fortunes of the Church in this and preceding epochs.

In ^293vas given the great vision of the Father and the
Son, from which some very obvious inferences might have
been drawai concerning the personality of God and the na-
ture of the Godhead. But on account of Joseph's lack of ac-
quaintance with the false dogmas of the world, it is doubtful
whether these facts were greatly impressed on his mind at
the time. At all events, they do not appear to have taken
definite shape as doctrines till long afterwards. Moroni's
numerous appearings from 1823 to 1829 put him in posses-
sion of some important facts respecting angels and their re-
lation to man. Then, the appearing of Moses, Elias, and
Elijah to him in the Kirtland temple gave him an insight
into the purposes of God with respect to the race as a whole.
And so on, till we reach the limit of his revelations up to the
period we are now considering. These were all more or less
germs out of which were to grow some important develop-
ments; but in this Nauvoo period we see "Mormonism" al-
most suddenly rise up into a sublime system of practical phil-
osophy, if we may use the expression. Attention to the
facts in the case will show that we have not overstated the
point.

The Working Hypothesis.

Beyond all cavil, the central idea of "Mormonism" — its
working hypothesis — is the doctrine that man is an eternal
being, as to his essence, capable of eternal progression. A

ONE HUNDRED YEAR? OF MORMONISM. 307

f^rand and luminous thought, throwing- into its proper rela-
tive position every truth that God has, at various times and
in different ways, made known to his erring creatures. "The
intelligence of spirits is immortal ; it had no beginning,
neither will it have an end ;" is the doctrine of the great
Prophet. "There never was a time when there were not
spirits, for they are co-eternal with our Father in heaven."
And at another time, he declared,* "God himself was once as
we are now, and is an exalted man." How soul-
withering, bv comparison, are the dogmas of false
teachers respecting man and his destiny, which makes
him a mean, miserable sinner! Sinner, he doubtless is.
but not mean and miserable, unless he choose to make him-
self so. As Darwin, the great scientist, spent the best part of
his manhood in collecting and arranging data about plants
and animals, which obstinately refused to be classified and
explained by systems then approved, but which fell at once
into harmony and order when the single luminous idea of
"natural selection" was brought to bear upon them ; so, in
like manner, man had for centuries been gathering facts con-
cerning himself, his origin, his destiny, and his present state,
which seemed to have no common bearing, no exact relation
to one another, till the modern Seer cast upon them the light
of the new thought of "eternal progression," when each
took its place in one grand, united whole. And as the Phil-
osopher remembered with ecstasy the precise time and place
that he received the key-thought of biological science, so
mankind will one day call to mind with delight the Prophet
who first gave them the idea which throws into their lives a
new impulse.

Round this central idea cluster in beautiful harmony all
the great truths of "Mormonism." The object of man's ex-
istence is that he might become like the Creator, the Father
of his spirit. To attain this end, he was given a tabernacle

308 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

of flesh, the material was joined with the spiritual in the
"fall" of man ; for without this union, says a revelation,
perfection is impossible. The experience he gains in mortal-
ity is necessary to his exaltation, and it is a fatal mistake to
avoid this means of growth. His home is here on the earth,
which will be purified and made like a urim and thummim,
not up somewhere in the region of the clouds singing an-
thems forever and fingering harps. Perfection will come
only through obedience to law, whether divine or so-called
"natural." Some of these are contained in the Bible, which
is to be interpreted by the simplest of all rules : "Just no in-
terpretation at all ; understand it exactly as it reads." Man
must have faith in God, in Christ, and in the laws which are
given for his salvation ; he must repent of his sins, which in-
cludes a sinning no more; he must have those sins washed
away in the waters of baptism by immersion ; then he must
receive the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands by those
holding divine commission. He must not lie, steal, commit
adultery or murder ; or, in short, do anything contrary to the
law of conscience and of God. ]\l[arriage is obligatory, and
the rearing_ of childreiL; ^r the greater hi^ posterity . other
things being equal, the greater his glory ani. power; for
which reason plurality of wives is a higher law than monog-
amy. If, as may happen, man does not hear the gospel
while he is in the flesh, he will have the privilege of hearing
it in the spirit world, the ordinances being performed for him
vicariously by men on the earth. Christ died for the sins of
mankind, and is the mediator between God and man; and
only through his name can individuals be saved. The res-
urrection from the dead will reunite the spirit and the body,
which were separated in death; after which "the meek shall
inherit the earth," cleansed from sin. And the righteous will
go on progressing in knowledge and power and glory
throughout all the ages of eternitv.

■ ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 309

Most of these great truths were revealed to the Prophet
at this time ; but all of them during the fourteen years he
was permitted to lead the Church. What a time of joy,
therefore, must the Saints at Nauvoo have had as they sat at
the feet of this great man as, under the light of heavenly in-
spiration, he unfolded principle after principle of eternal
life.

"The Hearts of the Fathers."

During the last years of the Prophet, it seems, the chief
thought in his mind was salvation for the dead. He endeav-
ored to impress upon the minds of the Saints the necessity of
being baptized for those who had gone behind the veil, for
only thus could they be "saviors on Mount Zion." In con-
nection with this subject was the matter of performing some
of the sacred ordinances pertaining to the living.

In order the better to carry out the purposes of the Lord
in relation to these holy rites and ceremonies, the people
were commanded to build a temple at Nauvoo. "There is
not a place found on earth," declared this revelation (section
T24) "that He may come and restore that which was lost,
even the fulness of the priesthood ; for a baptismal font
there is not upon the earth, that my Saints may be baptized
for those who are dead. This ordinance belongeth to my
house, and cannot be acceptable to me. only in the days of
your poverty."

Immediatelv, therefore, they began the erection of a
magnificent structure. The sight was one of the noblest for
^j^iiblic buildin"- that could be found anvwhere, on the ele-
vated part of the city overlooking the country to the west. A
building committee was apnointed, plans were drawn, and
excavations made ; so that by April 6th, 184,]^ at the time of
the eleventh general conference of the Church, the corner
stones werejaid with imposing ceremonies. The southeast

310 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

corner stone was laid by the Fiist-Pjr^dency ; the south-
west stone, by the President of the Hig'h Priesthood ; the
northwest, by the High Council ; and the northeast, by the
Bishops. From this time on the building progressed rapidly,
considering the condition of the people at the time, till bv
' Q'Ttnbcr 6th, 1843, ^ conference was held in it, though of
C(;i;' . , it was far from being completed. It was not finished
till after the Prophet's death.

The temple was one hundred and twenty-eight feet long,
eighty-eight feet wide, and sixty-five feet to the square.
From the ground to the top of the spire was one hundred and
sixtv-five feet. The material was light gray limestone, near-
ly as hard as marble, though there was much wood in the
building. There were thirty hewn pilasters — nine on each
side and six on each end — the capitals of which, at a height
of fifty feet, were suns with human faces in bold relief two
and a half feet broad, ornamented with rays of light-weaves,
and surmounted by hands with trumpets. There were two
stories in the clear. On the west front of the building was
inscribed in gold the words : "The House of the Lord ; built
by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Holi-
ness to the Lord." The total cost was more than one mil-
lion dollars.

CHAPTER IV.

MALEVOLENT ECHOES.

One would naturally suppose that the Missourians, hav-
ing once rid themselves of the obnoxious "Mormons," would
rest in supine contentment at the prospect offered by their
long-sought relief. But such were not the quiescent ways of
those who had accomplished that expulsion. Accordingly,
the Saints had no sooner entered upon their Illinois pilgrim-
age than they became aware that the i^ancorous feelings of
their inverterate, foe were neither dead nor sleeping.

Kidnappers at Work.

The first indication of this lingering malevolence was the
kidnapping of four "Mormons," a few miles above Ouincy,
by a band of Missourians living at Tullj^, in Lewis county.
No warrant was served, no offense charged against them,
they were simply taken by main force while they were en-
gaged in their daily work. For a day or two they were kept
prisoners in an old log cabin, under constant threatenings.
And when they were brought out, it was not to be set on
trial according to law nor to be let go, but, instead, one was
hanged on a tree b}- the neck till he was nearly strangled, an-
other was cruelly beaten till he was half dead, and the other
two were stripped of their clothing, lashed to a tree, and left
there most of the night. Then they were dismissed with this
characteristically Missourian note: "The people of ^tJi^lyj
having taken Mr^Allred, with some others, and having ex-
amined into the offenses committed, find nothing to justify
his detention any longer, and have released him." This was
signed by W. TT Woodward, who acted "l:)y order of the
committee."

312 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

This outrage, when word reached Nauvoo, created great
indignation. A meeting was held and resolutions passed, in
which non-"Mormons" also took an active part. George
Miller and Daniel H. Wells, the latter a Gentile, waited on
Governor Carlin at Quincy and related to him the case of the
brethren. His Excellency appeared to be deeply moved, and
his wife wept, at the recital. But nothing ever came of this
meeting with the executive, except promises and tears ; for
his "enthusiasm" for the "Mormon" cause had already
waxed cold.

"Fugitives."

In two months more came another evidence of Missouri's
disposition towards the Saints, in the shape of a requisition
from Governor Boggs of that state on the Governor of Illi-
nois for the persons of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman
Wight, Parley P. Pratt, Caleb Baldwin, and Alanson Brown,
as "fugitives from justice." And the requisition, moreover,
was readily granted by Governor Carlin. But when the
sheriff came to Nauvoo to serve the warrant, the "fugitives"
could nowhere be found. The writ was therefore returned
and became "dead." This last fact is important, as we shall
presently see, for "thereby hangs a tale."

Nothing further was heard of this matter till June, 1841,
when the Prophet was returning from Quincy, whither he
had been to accompany Hyrum Smith and William Law on a
mission to which they had been called by revelation. At
Heberlin's hotel, about twenty-eight miles from Nauvoo, he
was overtaken by a posse, under the sheriff of Adams county
and a Missouri officer, and arrested on the same charge that
had been preferred against him on the previous September,
and, in fact, on the same requisition that had been made out
at that time for himself and five other brethren. Joseph was
the more astonished since, while visiting Governor Carlin at

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 313

Quincy only a few hours before, he had not received the
slightest hint of this prxDcess. The party with the Prophet re-
tuqied to Quincy, where the prisoner obtained a writ of
habeas corpus from the master in chancery, Charles A. War-
ren. Judge Stephen A. Douglas appointed the hearing for
Tuesday, the 8th of June, at Monmouth, in Warren county.
Joseph was taken to Nauvoo by Sheriff King.

The trial took place on the Wednesday following. The
blind and ignorant zeal of Joseph's enemies employed, at
their own expense, a number of the best attorneys they could
engage, and threatened to withdraw their favor from any
lawyers who would dare to defend the accused. Neverthe-
less, Joseph secured the services of Charles A. Warren, Sid-
ney H. Little, O. H. Browning, James H. Ralston, Cyrus
Wallcer, and Archibald Williams, who rose above the petty
meanness of the rabble. The result of the trial was that the
Prophet was acquitted on the ground that the warrant on
which he was arrested, having been returned, was dead.
Judge Douglass would not go beyond this legal technicality
into the merits of the case.

Some incidents in this arrest and trial should not pass
unnoticed. While the sheriff was on his way from Quincy
to Nauvoo with his prisoner, he was taken very sick, but was
nursed carefully by the Prophet till he recovered. At Mon-
mouth, Joseph was invited to speak at the court house, but
declined, appointing Amasa Lyman to preach in his place,
which Elder Lyman did. During the trial, the Judge or-
dered the sheriff then in charge to keep back the crowd, but
he neglected to do so and was fined ten dollars. Ordered again,
shortly afterwards, to send back the spectators, he said that
he had instructed the constable to do so, whereupon Judge
Douglas said: "Clerk, add ten dollars to that fine." The
sheriff gave no further trouble after this. The attorneys on
the opposition, except two, treated the accused with great

314 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

fairness, and Joseph's lawyers pleaded well his case. Brown-
ing's address is especially remembered. He had seen, he
said, "the blood-stained traces of innocent women and chil-
dren, in the dreary winter, who had traveled hundreds of
miles barefoot, through frost and snow, to seek a refuge
from their savage pursuers;" and he dwelt upon the shame
of sacrificing the Prophet to the "fury" of those who dwelt
in the "savage land" of Missouri, "where none dared to en-
list in the cause of justice." "If there was no other voice
under heaven," he cried, "ever to be heard in this cause,
gladly would I stand alone, and proudly spend my latest
breath in defense of an American citizen."

The "Mormon" Benedict.

At this point in our narrative it becomes necessary to relatt
a circumstance or two that concern a character of whom we
have hitherto said little — the notorious Dr. John C. Bgijnett.
The first notice which the Saints had of the existence of
this man was an offer he made them to join with "their
forces" his own "invincible dragoons," of whom he was
l^rigadicr-general, and then to march upon the "cowardly
persecutors of this innocent people." The ofifer, of course,
was rejected. Later, when the "Mormons" began settling
upon lands in and about Commerce, he manifested a desire
to embrace their fortunes. In a letter which he wrote the
Prophet at this time, he_stated that it would not be necessary
to resign his military office and that he would continue to
practice his profession of medicine among his new friends ;
so that the Saints "should have all the benefits of his speak-
ing power, and his unti,ring energies in behalf of the good
and holy faith." And the Prophet had written back that no
doubt the doctor would be of great service to the "Mor-
mons," and that, though he devoted his time and abilities to

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 315

a suffering people, he would insure himself of "that bless-
ing which maketh rich and addeth no sorrow." "My general
invitation is," continued Joseph's unenthusiastic letter, "let
all who will come, come and partake of the poverty of Nau-
voo freely." B^nnqttcame and w as ^ baptized.

Though the Prophet had undoubtedly entertained sus-
picions regarding the new convert's sincerity in joining the
Church under such conditions, the doctor's energy, earnest-
ness, and general helpfulness largely overcame these. Ben-
nett was looked upon as "a man of enterprise, extensive ac-
quirements, and of independent mind, one calculated to be of
great benefit to the Church." S.o he was made the first jiay-
Qr^_ofJ;iauypOj the charter of whose new government he had
been influential in obtaining. And he had been given other
positions as well, civil, military, and ecclesiastical. In fact,
so useful did he make b.imsclf that there could be no linger-
ing doubt of his sincerity. Joseph said of him about this
time, "He is almost the only man I have around me who can
do what I want and in the right way."

But such was not the real l^^liiL.C.. Bennett. He was all
the while acting a part. And his true character soon ap-
peared.

May 7th, 1842, was a gala day at Nauvoo. The legion
— two thousand troops — was to have a parade and a sham
battle. At three o'clock, G^i£j:aLL.a.w's command of cavalry
was to make a descent upon that of Rich's infantry. A great
throng of spectators were there, including Judge .Douglas
and other prominent men of the state. When three o'clock
arrived General Joseph Smith and his body guard were sta-
tioned off by themselves, when Major-General Bennett rode
up and asked the Prophet if he would not himself lead the
charge of the first cohort. But he refused. Would he not
then stand in the rear of the cavalrv v/ithout his staff? But

t

316 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

A. P. Rockwood, the commander of the guard, would not
hear of it. And Bennett rode off.

"If General Bennett's true feelings towards me are not
manifest to the world in a very short time," remarked the
Prophet not long after this, "then it may be possible that the
gentle breathings of that Spirit which whispered to me on the
parade that there was mischief in that sham battle, were
false ; a short time will determine the point. Let John C.
Bennett answer at the day of judgment. Why did you re-
quest me to command one of the cohorts, and also to take my
position without my staff, during the sham battle on the
seventh of Maj_, 1842, where my life might have been for-
feited and no man have known who did the deed ?"

And a short time did determine the point ; for that very
month had not ended before Dr. Benneit was overwhelmed
by the deep disgrace of his misdeeds. He resigned his office
as major and Joseph was elected in his place. His engage-
ment to a young woman — the daughter of a respectable
"Mormon" in the city — was broken off when it was learned
that he was already a husband and father ; his-family was
then living in McConnellsville, OJiio. It transpired shortly
that he had been "leading silly women captive" at Nauvoo,
not one but several, having persuaded them that promiscuous
intercourse of the sexes was taught privately by the Prophet.
In this same guilt Francis M. and Chauncy L. Hi^gbee were ^
also involved. When these things came to light, Bennett at-
tempted suicide, but was rescued from death in spite of him-
self. He was about to be excommunicated from the Church
but action was postponed because he begged so piteously that
his mother might be spared the shock of his disgrace.

"Doctor," said Joseph to him one day in the presence of

Squire Wells, "I can sustain you no longer. Hyrum is

^^a.gainst you, the Twelve are against vou, and if I do not come

(out against sin and iniquity, I shall myself be trodden under

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 317

foot as a Prophet of God." This was fatal to Bennett's in-
fluence, and also to his ambitions to be a legislative repre-
sentative from Hancock county, which ofifice he was then
aspiring to.

In the city council he declared that Joseph had not
"either in public or private" given him any "authority or
license" to "hold illicit intercourse with women."

"Will you state definitely," asked Joseph, "whether you
know anything against my character, either in public or
private."

"I do not," was his answer. "In all my intercourse with
General Smith, in public and in private, he has been strictly
virtuous."

This same statement he made subsequently in an affi-
davit before Justice Wells. Meantime, he professed great
repentance, hoping that "the time would soon come when he
might be restored to full confidence and fellowship" in the
Church. "Should the time ever come," he said, "that I may
have the opportunity to test my faith, it will then be known
whether I am a traitor or a true man."

That time came, and proved him traitor to the bone. For
he precipitately left Nauvoo shortly after this, joined hands
with the old anti-"Mormon" foe across the river, and repeat-
ed the worst things he had ever been wicked enough to say
against the Prophet. He was confronted with his affidavit ;
whereupon he put forth the characteristic, theatrical plea
that he had made it under duress ! Thereupon his entire
conduct, so far as concerned the Saints, was exposed in the
Nauvoo papers. Those who had been led astray by his wiles
^ere tried and given the alternative of repentance or excom-
munication ."'*^""°~"""**"

That such was Bennett's true character is evident from
everything that is known of him. Governor Ford, in his
History of Illinois (page 263) , declares : "This Bennett was

318 ONK HUNDRKD YF.ARS OF MORMONISM.

probably the greatest scamp in the western country. I have
made particular inquiries concerning him, and have traced
him in several places in which he had lived before he had
joined the Mormons, in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and he
was everywhere accounted the same debauched, unprincipled,
and profligate character." Dr. Alexander Wilder, in his
History of Medicine (page 486), reveals another phase of
Bennett's villainy. "About this time," he says, speaking of
the rise, in 1832 and thereabouts, of certain reform papers in
this country, "there occurred an episode, perhaps the first of
the kind ever coming to light in the United States. A char-
ter for the 'University of Indiana' and the 'Christian Col-
lege,' at New Albany, had been conferred by the legislature
in 1833. The mover in the matter, and the titular president,
and chancellor of the institution, was one John Cook Ben-
nett, afterward attaining notoriety from his relations with
Joseph Smith, the Alormon Apostle, in Nauvoo. The insti-
tution did not go into operation, but its degrees tvere dis-
tributed whcrei-er individuals could be induced to accept and
pay for them. Bennett visited Wortliington and attempted
to vend his commodities among the students. Me boasted
that he had conferred them on tlie professors, naming Dr.
Morrow, but this was shown to be a slander." Whether
Bennett's own degree had been conferred in this manner, we
are not informed. A\u\ yet anti-"Mormon" writers continue
to quote this Bennett as authority for "Mormon" wicked-
ness ! ^^

>V^ The Inevitable Boggs. L.*-^

Following this, occurred one of the most high-handed pro-
ceedings that ever occurred between the governors of two
states. It came about in this manner :

Ltjlburn W. Boggs, who was an excgoyemox by this
time, on the evening nf l\|py f^th tS^^^ ■.»roc_c|-n-,f Ky ^^ ^^^.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 319

known hand, as he sat in liis room. So serious were the
wounds made b.v tlie assassin that for a time Bog^t^s's Hfe was
despaired of, but in time he ralHed and recovercch Tt had.
liowever, been rumored that he was dead.

More than two months went by, and nothing- further
was said of the occurrence, when suddenly the ex-governor
went l^pforp Jpfitirp ."samnpl Weston, of whom we have heard
before, and made out an affidavit charging- Joseph Smith "a
resident of IlHnois," with being accessory before the fact to
an assault upon his person with intent to kill This was on
the T, i^th of Julv. On the strength of this affidavit, Governor
^e};nolds, of Missouri, made out a jiequisition on the Gov-
ernor of Illinois for the person of Joseph Smitli. "a. fugitive
from justice," charged with "being accessory before the fact,
to an assault with intent to kill, made bv o|y O, P. T^malfw^^i^
OT1 Ti1|||irn W Boggs." The requisition was granted, and
the accused were arrested at Nauvoo by the sheriff of Adams
county. The Prophet and Rockwell, however, obtained a
writ of habeas corpus, first of the municipal courts at Nau-
voo, which the sheriff refused to honor, and then of the mas-
ter in chancery. The prisoners, meanwhile had been left in
charge of the Marshal, but without the original writ; so they
were turned loose.

But events were taking such a turn as to suggest that
tlie. twO-brethren go into bi-diug. Accordingly, J^ockwell

went to the East, and Joseph wi^nt... froiu^liouse to house

among his friends. First, he stayed with his uncle John at
Zarahemla. but hearing that the Governor of Iowa had is-
sued, upon a requisition from Missouri, a warrant for his ar-
rest, he went to the home of a Brother Fdwafd Savers, at
.^Jauvpo. Not long afterwards, however, he returned to his
own house, conceiving that his enemies would not expect him
to take such a risk. But one day a posse came to the house
to arrest him, but were delayed in the hall by some trifling

320 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

questions by Emma Smith till Joseph had time to escape
through the back door into some tall corn, and thence to
Bi<yhop Whitney's residence. His next home was at Edward
Huntac's, from which he directed affairs at Nauvoo, and
'wrote a valuable epistle to the Church on baptism for the
dead. Later however, he decided that he would be as safe at
his own home, to which he repaired, though he remained
there only a short time. He would have taken his family
into a distant part, but for the fact that the enmity of those
who sought his life was as great against the whole com-
munity. Part of the time he was thus concealed, it is pleas-
ant to note, was devoted to cutting and hauling wood for the
poor at Nauvoo.

Meanwhile, petitions were sent to the Governor in which
he was invoked to turn aside these illegal proceedings. One
was written by Emma Smith and another by the Relief So-
ciety. But the _chiel.e:;i££Utive. answered by. setting a price
on the heads of the Prophet and Ro^ckwell. — almost his last
official act as governor, for he went out of office shortly
afterwards. The Ggyernor of Missouri also offered a reward
for the brethren. For a time, the JProphet's friends enter-
C- tained hopes that the new incumbent of the g^]hprnatr>ria1
ohair — Tlioams.^Eord, of whom, alas, we shall hear enough
presently — would rescind the unjust actions of his predeces-
sor; but he refused to undertake "doubtful powers," al-
though he admitted in a letter to Joseph that Missouri's^
requisition was illegal. At the same time Tustice ButteCr
field was asked for his opinion on the whole conduct of the
frontier state. He declared that it was entirely unlawful,
and so persuaded Governor Ford. All that his Excellency
would do was to advise the Prophet to submit to a trial at
Springfield, pledging him protection to and from the place
and while he was there. AnjiJ[flisepli_conseiited to be tried.
Accordingly, he was arrested by Wilson Law at Namtoo

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. f{21

r^n r^gjfV\n\ prnrl^matinn- At Carthage an order for a writ
of habeas corpus was obtained which was made out at
Springfield a few minutes before the court convened, to
which place the Prophet and a number of his friends had
gone. J[oseph was placed under bonds for ^^yjiJiiQUsaiid
dnjlnrni find requested to appear at the session of the court
which was to be held a few days hence. The attorney for
the state attempted to have Joseph turned over to the Mis-
souri authorities, on the ground that the court did not have
jurisdiction to try the case. But T-Udge Pope decided differ-
eiltly, anr^ the, casf^ went on.

The tactics of the Prophet's enemies are sufficiently re-
vealed in the opinion of Judge Pope, who presided at the
trial. "It is proposed," he says, "to deprive a freeman of his '^
liberty; to deliver him into the custody of strangers; to be "',
transported to a foreign state; to be arraigned for trial be-
fore a foreign tribunal, governed by laws unknown to him ;
separated from his friends, family, and his witnesses, un-
known and unknowing. Plad he an immaculate character,
it would not avail him with strangers. Such a spectacle is

appalling enough to challenge the strictest analysis

Bpggs was shot on the 6th of May. The affidavit was made
on the i25th of July following. Here was time for inquiry,
which would confirm into certainty, or dissipate his sus-
picions. He had time to collect facts to be had before a
grand jury, or be incorporated in his affidavit. The court
is bound to assume that this would have been the course of
^J^r^IjOggs, ])ut his suspicions were light and unsatisfactory.
The affidavit is insufficient. First, because it is not positive ;
second, because it charges no crime; third because it
charges no crime cominitted in the state of Missouri. There-
fore he did not flee from the justice of the state of Missouri,
nor has he taken refuge in the state of Illinois."

Concerning <^-^^Tri10'" Peynolds. part in this affair, he
ax

322 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

says : "The governor of Missouri, in his demand, calls
Smith a fugitive from justice, 'charged with being accessory
before the fact to an assault, with intent to kill, made by one
O. P. Rockwell, on Lilburn W. Boggs, in this state (Mis-
souri). This governor expressly refers to the affidavit as his
authority for that statement. Boggs, in his affidavit, does
not call Smith a fugitive from justice, nor does he state a
fact from which the governor had a right to infer it. Neither
does the name of O. P. Rockwell appear in the affidavit, nor
does Boggs say Smith fled. Yet the governor says he has
fled to the state of Illinois.

Nor does the complicity of ex-Governor Carlin escape.
"The governor of Illinois," continues the Judge, "respond-
ing to the demand of the Executive of Missouri for the ar-
rest of Smith, issues his warrant for the arrest of Smith, re-
citing that 'whereas Joseph Smith stands charged by the
affidavit of Lilburn W. Boggs with being accessory before
the fact to an assault, with intent to kill, made by one O. P.
Rockwell, on Lilburn W. Boggs, on the night of the 6th day
of May, 1842, at the county of Jackson, in said state of Mis-
souri ; and that the said Joseph Smith has fled from the jus-
tice of said state and taken refuge in the state of Illinois.'
Those facts do not appear by the affidavit of Boggs." S^ thp ,
PjKipJaeLiias. -discha rged .

Some incidents connected with this Springfield trial also
deserve attention. The presence of the famous "Mormon"
Prophet in this place occasioned considerable excitement.
The same prejudice was manifested here that showed itself
at Monmouth. But the Prophet met a number of the most
prominent men of Illinois ; for the legislature was in session,
lie and the Governor had several conversations. "I had rea-
son to think," said his Excellency afterwards, "that the Mor-
mons were a peculiar people, difl'crent from other people,
having horns or something of the kind ; but I found that they

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 323

looked like other people; indeed, I think Mr. Smith a very
good-looking man." An invitation was extended Joseph to
preach in the court house ; but he declined, on account of his
being under arrest; and Apostles .Hyde and T3.^r preached
to a crowded house, whose attention was divided between the
words of the preachers and the person of the Prophet.

On January loth^ 1843, Joseph and his brethren reached
Nauyoo, amj^d^reat rejoicings. The Twelve issued a procla-
mation appointing the seventeenth as "a day of humiliation,
fasting, praise, prayer, and thanksgiving before the Great
Eloheim." And the Prophet, on the eleventh, the day after
his arrival from Springfield, gave a jiarty and banquet to the
Twelve and other leading citizens of Nauvoo.

On the evening of these festivities at Joseph's home, an
incident occurred which threatened to bring things to an un-
happy crisis. A rough looking man with long straggling
hair came sauntering into the banquet room like one in the
first stages of intoxication. The Prophet, casting a sus-
picious eye on the stranger, quietly notified a policeman
present to put the fellow out. But the new-comer, suddenly
throwing away all signs of drink, grappled this functionary
of the law. All eyes were, therefore, turned on the wrestlers.
In the midst of the scuffle, Joseph suddenly caught sight of
the stranger's face, which had hitherto been mostly concealed
by a slouch hat drawn down on his head, and beheld his
old friend and fellow-prisoner, Orrin Porter Rockwjdl ! The
"long haired stranger" was, of course, made a welcome
guest, whereupon he recounted the many thrilling events of
his wanderings since he had last seen them.

He had been away many months. First, he went to the
Eastern States. But he tired of this strange country — for he
was born for rough work in the pioneer's land, — and found
his way back to St. Louis, where a Missourian recognized
him as the man advertised for in the papers. He was ar-

324 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

rested, and imprisoned for eight months ; buLfiYeiua-Misseuri
grand jury could find nothing against him, and. so Jhe was
not detained on that account. While waiting, however, for
this decision he had broken jail, for which he was sentenced
to five minutes^ imprisonment, which, in strict accord with
Missouri arithmetic, developed into a few hours.

Once, during his incarceration, he was approached con-
fidentially by Sheriff Reynolds with a proposition by which
Rqckwell might profit greatly. He was to be released, go to
the outskirts of Nauvoo, there meet the Prophet by appoint-
ment, and detain him until his "friends" from Missouri
could come along. "Rockwell," whispered the officer, "only
deliver Joe Smith into our hands, and you can name your
pile."

"I'll see you all damned first," replied the redoubtable
Porter, "and then I won't."

Some time during this same evening Sidney Rigdon
handed Orson Pratt a letter which he had received, addressed
to both himself and Pratt, from John C. Bennett. "I leave
tonight for Missouri," said this Benedict Arnold, "to meet
a messenger charged with the arrest of Joseph Smith, Ly-
man Wight, and others." "The war goes bravely on," he
continued ; "and although Smith thinks he is now safe, the
evening is near, even at the door." This letter Elder Pratt
promptly gave to the Prophet, thus relieving himself of the
odium of secret correspondence with that arch-traitor Bxjj-
Qett, \yhich Rigdon, whose well of faith was now fast drying
up, h^s_never been altogether cleared of.

^

An Evil Sextette.
In June^ 1843. the Prophet and his family went to visit
Emma's sister living near Dixon, in Lee county, more than
two hundred miles north of Nauvoo. One morning he was
walking on the path leading from the house to the barn.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 325

when two men suddenly pounced upon him, Hkc tigers from
the jungle, and with profanity of the most shocking charac-
ter, took hold of him violently, at the same time cocking
their revolvers and threatening to shoot him on the spot.
Joseph asked what the meaning of all this was, to which they
only answered with another volley of oaths and additional
threats on his life, dragging him meantime to their wagon in
front of the house. No warrant had been served upon him
thus far, but he was hustled into the wagon, hatless and coat-
less, and^driven ofif towards P^jf|^|;i-

These two men were sheriffs, Reynolds of Missouri and
Wilson of Illinois. They carried in their pockets a warrant
which Governor Ford had issued on a requisition from the
Governor of Missouri. These two governors, it seems, had
been under the sinister influence of John Q Bennett and a
man named jQw.ens,- from Missouri, where he had once led a
Jackson county mob against the Saints. Bennett managed
Govenior Reynolds ; and Owens, Governor Ford. And
these two sheriffs had been chosen beforehand by these two
evil counselors, because of their great animus towards the
"Mormons" in general and Joseph Smith in particular.

The Prophet, however, had not been left in the dark as
to the new movements against him. We have seen that a let-
ter from Bennett to Rigdon and Pratt warned him of this
apostate's progress in his designs. Then, too, as soon as the
warrant was out. Judge Adams, a friendly, .attornev at
Springfield, despatched a quick messenger to Nauvoo to
notify the Prophet of his danger. But Joseph not being
there, his brother Hyrum sent Stephen Markham and Wil-
liam Clayton to Dixon with the news. A lawyer at Dixon,
also, just after this, sent word to Joseph that a warrant had
been issued for his arrest. Somehow, Reynolds and Wilson
got wind of the Prophet's whereabouts, and had come direct
to Dixon and found him. It is asserted that they disguised

326 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

themselves as "Mormon" elders. If so, they probably thus
won the confidence of some good "Mormon," and obtained
information concerning Joseph. But as they did not serve
any warrant upon him, he likely imagined them kidnappers.
While they were putting him into the wagon, Markham
came up, and held the horses till Emma could reach it with
Joseph's coat and hat.

At this time, and also as they drove to Dixon, the sher-
iffs cursed and swore and threatened to shoot the Prophet,
poking their pistols into his sides till his flesh there was great-
ly bruised. Once he had opened his shirt bosom to them and
said : "Kill me if you will, I am not afraid to die ; I have en-
dured so much oppression that I am weary of Jife. But I am
strong, and could cast both of you down if I would."

Arriving at Dixon, he was thrust into a room, and every
person who proffered to aid him was refused admittance.
Finally, however, the proprietor of the hotel and another
friend of justice gave these officers to understand that, what-
ever violation of the law was permitted in Missouri, the
prisoners must be given fair treatment in Illinois. So Joseph
obtained a writ of habeas corpus returnable before Judge
Caton, at Ottawa. But writs were also sworn out against
Reyno"lds and Wilson, and they were accordingly placed un-
der arrest. The whole company thus went towards Oltawa
for trial.

At Pawpaw Grove, thirty-two miles on their way, they
learned that Judge Caton was out of the state, hence they
would have to return to Dixon for new writs returnable else-
where. But before leaving, a large crowd, hearing that the
"Mormon" Prophet was in town, gathered at the hotel. They
wanted to hear him preach, suggesting the subject of mar-
riage. Reynolds, however, objected to this.

"I wish you to understand," he said, "that this man is
my prisoner. You must all disperse."

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 327

Whereupon an old gentleman, named Town, who car-
ried a heavy cane to help his lameness, spoke up : "You
damned infernal puke, we'll learn you to come here and in-
terrupt gentlemen! Sit down there (pointing to a very low
chair), and sit still. Don't open your head till General
Smith gets through talking. If you never learned manners
in Missouri, we'll teach you that gentlemen are not to be im-
posed upon by a nigger-driver. You cannot kidnap men
here. There's a committee in this grove that will sit on your
case ; and, sir, it is the highest tribunal in the United States,
as from its decision there is no appeal."

k)seph spoke for an hour and a half on the subject
chosen, and the company returned to Dixon. Arriving there,
they obtained new warrants, "returnable before the nearest
tribunal in the fifth judicial district authorized to hear and
determine writs of habeas corpus." As that was thought to
be Judge Douglas's at Quincy, they went towards that place ;
but on the way Joseph convinced his attorney, Cyrus Walker,
that the courts of Nauvoo had the necessary "aiifhority, and
so they decided to go to that city.

In the meantime, Joseph had despatched William Clay-
toTL-ta-Nau-voo with news of what had happened to him. It
was Sunday when he reached the city, and meeting was in
session. Hyrum announced, in the midst of the meeting,
that he would like to see all the brethren immediately. The
meeting, of course, broke up, and the men flocked to the
green, where a hollow square was formed around Hyrum,
who related to them what had occurred, and called for vol-
unteers to go to the rescue. The result was that in a few
hours, one hundred and seventy-five men were in the saddle
on their way over the country towards Dixon, and about
seventy-five more took passage up the river on the Maid of
Iowa, with instructions to do all in their power to render aid
to Joseph.

?

3'/i8 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

As the Prophet and his party approached Monmouth,
the brethren sent out from Nauvoo began to fall in by small
squads, for they had divided in order the better to accom-
plish their purpose. The sheriffs who had Joseph in charge,
when they learned that they were on their way to Nauvoo,
were alarmed for their safety. But Joseph assured them
that they should receive no harm. Now, however, as the
Prophet's friends kept dropping in, they needed reassuring.

"Is Jem Flack anywhere around?" inquired Reynolds
with no little concern. He was told that he was.

"Then Pm a dead man!" was his answer, as his face as-
sumed the death hue. But when Jem c^me_up, the Prophet
requested him to postpone his revenge upon the Alissourian
till another time, which he did.

His fears that Markham would do him violence ap-
peared to be equally great, for he asked, when Stephen of-
fered to shake hands with him —

"Do you meet me as a friend ? I expected to be a dead
man when I met you again."

"We are friends, except in law," was Markham's reply;
"that must have its course."

What a triumph was that entrance into the city ! Men,
women, and children came to meet their beloved Prophet,
with music and shouts of joy for his safe return, "Old
Charley," Joseph's favorite horse was brought out, and the
Prophet mounted him and rode into town, Emma by his side.
Upon reaching his home, Joseph spoke a few words to the
multitude, promising to address them at four o'clock, near
the temple. And they dispersed. About fifty persons sat
down at the Prophet's table that afternoon, including the two
sheriffs who had so shamefully abused him. They were
placed at the head of the table, and waited upon by Emma
herself! In the afternoon, Joseph addressed the Saints, as
promised.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 329

The trial of the Prophet occurred iiv.due,tinie at a court
presided over by WilHani Marks, D. H. Wells, N. K. Whit-
ney, G, W. Harris, Gustavus Hills, and Hiram Kimball, as
justice and associates. Hyrum Smith, Parley P. Pratt,
Brigham Young, G. W. Pitkin, Lyman Wight, and Sidney
Rigdon were examined as witnesses; for this court had less
scruples than those at Monmouth and Springfield about en-
tering into the merits of the case. The Prophet was ac-
quitted. Copies of all the documents pertaining to the trial
were forwarded to Governor Ford, so that he might be in-
formed as to what had been done.

Thus every effort on the part of Missouri to get the
Prophet into her power was thwarted, and Joseph was a free
man.

CHAPTER V.

THE SEED OF THE CHURCH.

And now we come to the last scenes in the remarkable career
of the Prophet Joseph — those which terminated in his mar-
tyrdom. Like so many other untoward events in the history
of "Mormonism." that dark tragedy at Carthage was
brought about by a combination of elements without and
within the Church.

Political Snares.

The "Mormons," in the Missouri and Illinois periods, held a
unique but altogether unenviable situation politically. In the
latter state, particularly, they held the balance of power.
Moreover, since there was usually some opposition from
without making head against them, secretly or openly, they
were compelled to vote pretty much together. Hence, after
election, the defeated _party, of course, would blame the
"Mormons," and that without respect to whether it was the
Whigs or the Democrats.

The charge was made then, and has been made since,
that Joseph Smith ordered the votes of his people. But this
is altogether without foundation or warrant in fact. The
Prophet himself always disclaimed having anything to do
with telling the Saints how to vote, and called them to wit-
ness, in their public assemblies, that they were perfectly free
to cast their ballots, a thing he would not have done if he ex-
ercised any tvrannical influence in political elections. The
solidarity of the "Mormon" vote in Illinois is to be ex-
plained in a simpler way than by the hypothesis that the
Prophet dictated their votes and that the people servilely
obeyed him in the matter. Outside pressure compelled them

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 331

to act together for self-protection. If Methodists, or Bap-
tists, or Presbyterians, argued the Prophet, were told by one
political party that their civil rights would be taken from
them if its nominees were placed in power, and by the other
party that their rights should be protected if its candidates
were elected, it would scarcely need a bishop or elder to tell
them how to vote. It was exactly so with the "Mormons."

One unfortunate thing, however, occurred in connection
with the summer election of ^^8^, which rather intensified
partisan feelings against the Saints. While the prophet was
in the hands of Reynolds and Wilson at Dixon, Cyrus Walk-
er, a celebrated criminal lawyer of Illinois came along, who^'
services Joseph could engage only on the condition that he
would vote for him at the coming election as representative
for Congress. The Illinois State Register, a Democratic pa-
per, declared, and perhaps with l^ruth, thai Walker "miracu-
lously happened" to be in the neighborhood of Dixon at this
time. Such, at any rate, was the agreement between him and
Joseph. And whatever question may be entertained respect-
ing the propriety of Joseph's accepting the services of this at-
torney on such a condition, certain it is that there were built
up strong hopes for Walker and the Whig ticket, since it was
generally supposed that the Prophet's vote carried with it the
entire "Mormon" vote. On election day Joseph, according
to his promise, cast his ballot for Walker ; but the great ma-
jority of the Saints, on account of a strong suspicion that
there was a Whig plot against them, voted the Democratic
ticket, including Mr. Hodg^ name for Congressman. The
rest of the story is told in Ford's History^, of. Illinois, and
since the Governor had the facts before him and knew
whereof he spoke, his statement is all the more valuable.

"The next day yiv. Hodge received about three thou-
sand votes in Nauvoo, and was elected to Congress by six or
eight hundred majority. The result of the election struck

332 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the Whigs with perfect amazement. Whilst they fancied
themselves secure of getting the Mormon vote for Mr.
Walker, the Whig newspapers had entirely ceased their ac-
customed ahuse of the Mormons. They now renewed their
crusade against them ; every paper was loaded with accounts
of the wickedness, corruptions, and enormities of Nauvoo.
The Whig orators groaned with complaints and denuncia-
tions of the Democrats, who would consent to receive Mor-
mon support, and the Democratic officers of the state were
violently charged and assaulted with using the influence of
their offices to govern the Mormons. From this time for-
ward the Whigs generally, and a part of the Democrats, de-
termined wpon driving the Mormons out of the state ; and
everything connected with the Mormons became political,
and was considered almost entirely with reference to party."
An attempt was made, but was not successful, to pre-
vent two persons from Nauvoo — the school commissioner
and the clerk for the commissioner's court both recently
elected — from qualifying at Carthage. In August, 1843, an
anti-Mormon meeting was called to protest against any
"Mormons" holding office. Resolutions were adopted charg-
ing every crime in the calender against the Saints, and in
which those at the meeting pledged themselves to resist the
"Mormons," peaceably if they could, forcibly if they must.
This was followed up later by actual violence, fiaukl
Ayery;^and h^ son were kidnapped by Levi Williams oi.War-
saw, John Elliot, and others, and given to Missourians. Ru-
mors were abroad shortly afterwards to the effect that Mis-
souri, or that part of it where the Saints had lived, purposed
to invade Illinois to work out their will upon the "Mormons,"
in consequence of which the Saints petitioned the Governor
for protection.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 333

"A President of the United States."

To avoid these political entanglements the Saints had used
every means within their power. One of these we must give
in detail, as it shows the real attitude of the "Mormon" peo-
ple politically.

ji^^^jAvas a year of the presidential election. Towards
the close of the preceding year, the Prophet wrote a letter to
each of the prospective candidates — among them HeJJXV
Qm, Joha^jCalhoiui, MartiiiJIaii Buren. and T.ewis C^^s.
asking him what would be his rule of action, relative to the
"Mormons" should fortune favor his ascendency to the chief
magistracy. Clay and Calhoun answered, the former declar-
ing that he could give no pledge except what might be drawn
from his whole life, character and conduct, the latter that
the powers of the federal government were so limited and
specific as to permit no interference with the actions of a
State. To both of these Toseph wrote scathiugjjTipt tQ.,say
harsh replies. Later Joseph declared publicly that "it is
morally jmpossiblc for this people, in justice to themselves,

to vote for the re-election of President Van Buren As

to Mr. Clay, his sentiments and cool contempt of the people's
rights are manifested in his reply: 'Xouhad better go to
Oi£gQiLior,^redress,' which would prohibit any true lover of
our constituional privileges from supporting him at the bal-
lot-box." And when politicians came to Nauvoo pressing
the claims of their respective candidates for the presidency,
the Saints began to cast about them for a new policy in mat-
ters political.

That new policy was to nominate a president of their
own. At a political meeting held at Nauvoo, Jan,..jgQtlL it
was moved and carried "that we have an independent elec-
toral ticket, and that Josenh .Smith be_a candidate for tlie
next presidency ; and that we use all honorable means in our

334 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

power to secure his election." Sidi^ey Rigdon. whojiad
moved to Pennsylvania, was subsequently nominated for
vir.e-presidf.nt. The Times and Season^csime out with this
ticket at the head of its editorial columns ; and one hundred
and thirty-seven elders were sent out over the states to "pre-
sent before the people 'General Smith's Views of the Powers
and Policy of the General Government,' and seek diligently
to get up electors who will vote for him for the presidency."
That any "Mormon" entertained the vaguest hopes concern-
ing the Prophet-Candidate and his Preacher-Associate, is
not to be thought of as within the range of probability. Ev-
erything connected with the affair goes to show that the
Saints viewed this as an opportunity to prove their political
consistency, to escape the political snare that was already
forming around their feet, and to get before the people of the
nation some original and powerful ideas respecting govern-
ment.

The Views of the Pozvers and Policy of the General
Government above referred to was a pamphlet published by
the Prophet — an able and patriotic document, which is wor-
thy of more than a passing notice.

"Born in a land of liberty, and breathing an air uncor-
rupted with the sirocco of barbarous climes," it opens, "I feel
a double anxiety for the happiness of all men, both in time
and in eternity." Then follows a characteristic review of the
national government from Washington to Van Buren, un-
der whom the glory of American liberty began to wane.
"Reduce Congress at least two-thirds," it advises. "Two
senators from a state and two members to a million of popu-
lation will do more business than the army that now occupy
the hall of the national legislature. Pay them two dollars
and their board per diem (except Sundays). That is more
than a farmer gets, and he lives honestly. Curtail the oflfi-
cers of government in pay, number, and power ; for the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 335

Philistine lords have shorn our nation of its goodly locks in
the lap of Delilah." Every convict was to be pardoned and
told to go his way and sin no more ; the penalty for larceny,
burglary, or any felony should be made applicable to labor
upon public works, and the culprit taught more wisdom and
virtue ; Congress should establish a national bank with 7^
branches in every state, and the net gain applied to the na-
tional revenue; less power should be given the states and C
more to the general government ; Texas, Mexico, and Can- ^
ada should be permitted to join the Union when they desired *
to do so ; and all the black men should be purchased of their
present owners by the surplus revenue arising from the sale
of public lands and from the deduction of pay from members
of Congress. "We have had Democratic Presidents," it
went on, "Whig Presidents, a pseudo-Democratic-Whig ^
President, and now it is time to have a Presidoit of the Unit- ^
ed States." After touching upon the inconsitencies of Van
Buren, it said : "Wherefore, were I the President of the
United States, by the voice of a virtuous people, I would
honor the old paths of the venerated fathers of freedom ; I
would walk in the tracks of the illustrious patriots who car-
ried the ark of the government upon their shoulders with an
eye single to the glory of the people ; and when that people
petitioned to abolish slavery in the slave states, I would use
all honorable means to have their prayers granted, and give
liberty to the captive by paying the Southern gentlemen a
reasonable equivalent for his property ; that the whole nation
might indeed be free."

These views were commented upon very freely by the
press, east and west. Some papers spoke favorably of them,
contrasting the open pledges of the "Mormon" Candidate
with the shifting, evasive methods of some of the others.
The views on slavery were especially striking. Josiah
Quincy visited the Prophet a few weeks before the latter's

336 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

death in 1844; to him Joseph expressed himself on this
subject along the Hnes followed in the pamphlet; and that
statesman and writer declared that "if the retired scholar,"
Ralph Waldo Emerson, "was in advance of his time when
he advocated this disposition of the public property in 1855,
what shall I say of the political and religious leader who had
committed himself, in print, as well as in conversation, to the
same course in .18^? If the atmosphere of men's opinions
were stirred by such a proposition when war-clouds were dis-
cernible in the sky, was it not a stateman-like word eleven
years earlier, when the heavens looked tranquil and benefi-
cent?"

"A Judas in Our Midst."

This inimical party spirit in Illinois at this time, was eagerly
embraced, as is always the case, by religious jealousy. Sec-
tarian bigotry had ever been on the alert for a pretext
against the "Mormons," and had enthusiastically joined
hands with elements of "the baser sort" to encompass the
defeat of a religion that showed signs of superior energy
and success. Hence, when some of those narrow-minded and
jealous clergy in the vicinity of Nauvoo found the politicians
and their papers clamorous against the "Mormons," they
readily joined in the hue and cry.

But this religious and political combination could not
have succeeded in their evil purposes, if it had not been re-
inforced by traitors and apostates within the Church. "All
the enemies upon the face of the earth," said the Prophet in
December, 1843, ^t a meeting of the city council, "may roar
ancj exert all their power to bring about my death, but they
can accomplish nothing, unless some who are among us, who
have enjoyed our society, have been with us in our councils,
participated in om- confidence, taken us by the hand, called us
brother, saluted us with a kiss, join with our enemies, and by

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 337

felsehood and deceit, stir up their wrath and incHgnation
against us, and bring their united vengeance upon our
heads." But in this very address he exclaimed: "Wejiqve
a liidas in our jiiidst."

Not long after this it transpired that there were, not one,
but several Tudases. Q. P. Rockwell had said something to
Joseph about some new attempts on the part of the Prophet's
enemies to get him into their power. Hence a number of ad-
ditional policemen had been appointed to patrol the city, es-
pecially at night. This, together with the remark of Joseph's
concerning a Judas, had given great offense to \\^lliam Law
and William Marks. The former, on two different occa-
sions, had asked for and obtained a special investigation, by
the city council, into certain dangers, while he professed to
fear greatly, from these extra police, whom, he averred, had
been sworn in under secret oath, to disturb his peace. "What
can be the matter with these men? asked the Prophet
shortly after this. "Is it that the wicked flee when no man
pursueth, that hit pigeons always flutter, that drowning men
catch at straws, or that Presidents Law and Marks are
traitors?" Subsequent events proved that Law, at [east, was
a traitor, and that he was the head of a band of conspirators,
whose secret meetings were in danger of being disturbed if
not broken up by the police of whom he complained. Not
long after this a notice appeared in the Times and Seasons
that Robert D. Foster. Wilson Law, William Law, and Janii
Law had been excommunicated from the Church "for un-
christianlike conduct." Foster had been a consort of the in-
famous Bennett ; \Villiam Law was up to this time second
counselor to Joseph.

Concerning some of the secret meetings of this society
of traitors and their designs against the Prophet and the lib-
erties of Nauvoo, we have a detailed account given by Deni-
son L. Harris and Robert Scott, who were young men at this

22

338 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

time. Harris was living at his father's in Nauvoo, Scott had
been reared in William Law's family. They had both been
invited to a secret meeting, the former hy Ansfin Co^vles. a
member of the high council, and the^Jatter l^y Law. They
had been told something about its general purposes, and
warned not to breathe a word concerning it to a soul, except
Harris's father, who might come if he wished. The thing
having been communicated to the elder Harris, he decided to
ask the Prophet's advice. Joseph told him not to go himself,
but to let his son go.

The first meeting was held on a Sabbath afternoon at
William Law's new brick house. There were many present,
among wdiom they recognized the two Laws, the tW(l..Hi^r
bees, the two Fosters, Cowles, the Hicks brothers, and two
prominent inerchants named French and Rollins;on. The
time was spent in denouncing the "fallen Prophet," and in
urging the necessity of organizing. A meeting was called
for the following Sunday. The boys reported to Joseph
what they had seen and heard, and were requested by him to
attend again. This second meeting was occupied in a similar
manner, except that Hyrum Smitli and other leading breth-
ren came in for their share of vilification and abuse. The
boys again reported to the Prophet, and were requested to
attend the third meeting. This time, however, Joseph had
considerable apprehensions concerning the young men's
safety ; but he said that he hardly thought that their blood
would be shed, though under no consideration were they to
take any of their oaths. So they went, feeling that they
might never return alive.

The doors were guarded by armed men. They were,
however, admitted. An organization was effected. Francis
Higbee, a justice of the peace, sat at the table administering
the oath to each person as he came up. "You solemnly
swear," read this blood-curdling instrument, "before God and

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 1339

all holy angels, and these your brethren by whom you are
surrounded, that you will give your life, your liberty, your
influence, your all, for the destruction of Joseph Smith and
his party, so help you God." Then the person signed his
name in a book. Among the number were three women,
heavily veiled, one of whom was weeping. When everyone
else had sworn and signed, the boys were approached and
importuned to do the same. They were coaxed, amid gen-
eral attention. They quietly but firmly refused. Then they
were threatened ; but still they would not be sworn.

"You know too much now," was the general cry "and
you must join or die !" But they were firm.

Kjiives v.ere drawn and guns were cocked and men
rushed upon them from all parts oftlie room. But they were
protected by the calmer feelings of some of the leaders. It
was suggested that the room which they occupied at the time
was an improper place to commit such a deed ; the attention
of passers-by might be attracted. So they all started for the
cellar. On their way, however, someone suggested the pos-
sibility of their being discovered, for the boys' parents knew
where they were. This turned the tide, and the young men
were dismissed after being warned that if they ever divulged
what they had heard they would be killed, night or day.

On approaching the bank of the river, they discovered
that the Prophet and Scott's brother John were hidden there.
The whole situation was discussed by these four. Joseph
was unusually moved ; he wept.

"You do not know," he said, "how all this will end ; but
I do ! I fully comprehend it !"

This fact that there existed a plot against the Prophet's
life is confirmed, first, by affidavits by M.--,G.^ j^tpn and A„B.
Williams, and, secondly, by the actions of the principals in it
— the X^w.s, the Higbees, and the Fosters ; for subsequently
they formed an organization with "apostles," "prophets," and

340 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Other officers after the pattern of the Church. Their conten-
tion, strangely enough, \yas that the Church was true but the
leaders "falleii." These men, according to all the evidence
that has reached our day concerning them, were guilty of the
gravest immoralities, for which they had been cut off the
Church. And the fact of their eagerness to imbrue their
hands in the blood of innocence, of which there is abundant
proof, is sufficient evidence of their depravity ; since, if Jo-
seph and his fellow-apostles were guilty of the heinous of-
fense these men charged against them, these apostates would
not have resorted to secret plots, but would have brought
them before the law. Inflanimatory editorials in the Whig
papers and public meetings at various places passing resolu-
tions to expel or exterminate the "Mormons" from the state,
( enij^oldened this apostate gang within the city ; and the vio-

lent and unprincipled without, concerted with the treacher-
ous and base within, Nauvoo, to accomplish the overthrow of
"Mormonism" and the death of its leading men. Arrests
and counterarrests were made. .Foster tjireatened the life of
the Prophet in open day, and was arrested. He retaliated by
planting a suit for defamation of character and false im-
prisonment. Finally, there appeared a prospectus of an anti-
"Mormon" sheet, to be called Tlie Nmivoo Expositor, which
expressed the intentions of the publishers to advocate the re-
peal of the city charter and to lay bare the wickedness of the
citizens, irrespective of the position occupied by the wrong-
doers.

On the /th of Tune.. 1844. appeared the first issue of the
Ii.vposifor, VLL-kiu-^ witli libel and tilth. The leading citizens,
men and women, were spoken of and slandered in the most
indecent terms. One great cry of indignation arose from the
city. In any other part of the Union, not to speak of the
West, a mob would have immediately destroyed the press
and cut off the unsfodlv career of the libelers. But the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 341

"Mormons" awaited peaceful and legal measures. It is
highly probable that this libelous publication was issued only
for the purpose of luring the "Mormons" into the commis-
sion of some overt act that would make them amenable to the
law.

Ajiieeting of the city council was called. The members
realized fully the gravity of their situation. "They felt that
they were in a critical position, and that any move made for
the abating of that press would be looked upon, at least rep-
resented, as a direct attack upon the liberty of speech, and
that, so far from displeasing our enemies, it would be looked
upon by them as one of the best circumstances that could
transpire to assist them in their nefarious and bloody de-
signs." Nevertheless, after much deliberation, they decided
that the printing-ofifice whence issued the Nauvoo Expositor
was a public nuisanc^, together with such copies of the paper
as might be found in the establishment ; and the mayor was
instructed "to cause said establishment and papers to be re-
moved without delay, in such manner as he should direct."

The city marshal. John P. Green, was ordered to abate
the nuisance, which he forthwith proceeded to do. The door
was broken down, the press carried out and broken, the type
pied, the papers burned ; and a report of what was done
given to the mayor, Joseph Smith.

The conspirators thereupon set fire to the building and
"fled" to Carthage, crying out that the "Mormons" had
driven them away from their homes. The flames, however,
were put out by the police before any damage had been done.
At Carthage Francis Higbee swore out a complaint against
Joseph Smith and all the members of the city council for riot.
The warrant required that they go before Justice Morrison
"or some other justice of the peace." Joseph refused to go
to Carthage, but expressed his willingness to go before "some
other justice." But the constable insisted on his going to

342 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Carthage. The usual resource, however, — a writ of habeas
corpus — settled matters for the time being.

Excitement in and about Ha^^cpoct^ county now rose to a
high point. Meetings were held at AVar§^q,w. Carthagfi, and
other places, at which the most violent counsels prevailed.
The liberty of the press — that sacred boon of Americans —
had been invaded at Nauvoo ; and the ordinary forms of legal
procedure would be ineffective to remedy the evil ! The
Governor was invoked to render immediate assistance; but
lest time be wasted forces must be collected, so as to be ready
when he made his appearance. These forces, however, once
mustred, could not restrain their impatience for action; and
so they went against the settlements of the Saints around
Nauvoo threatening them with death or banishment if they
would not deny the divine calling of Joseph Smith, leave
within a few days for Nauvoo, or give up all their arms. The
Saints, however, always appealed to the Prophet for advice,
who told them not to relinquish any of their rights as Amer-
ican citizens as long as they were able to defend them, but if
they were not sufficiently numerous, to flee to the city for
protection.

In the meantime, the Saints kept the Governor informed
concerning all that was going on. Joseph expressed his will-
ingness to abide by the results of the law respecting the de-
struction of the press ; he would go to Springfield for JiiaLas
soon as he was so requested by his Excellency. Afterwards,
upon the advice of Judge Thomas, tlie mayor and the coun-
cilors went before Justice Wells, a non-^Mormon," at Nau-
voo, were tried, and acquit^d. Pacific resolutions were
adopted at a puoirc meeting, denying the wild rumors afloat
concerning the "Mormons," and men were sent out to dis-
abuse the public mind of wrong impressions respecting their
conduct and intentions. But this failing to have the desired

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 343

effect — for the sentiment ag^ainst them was bitter everywhere
— Nauvoo was declared under martial law.

It was at this time that Joseph delivered his famous ad-
dress— his last public utterance to the people whom he loved
so devotedly, and for whom lu- liad maiiv times expressed
himself as willing to lay down his life. He stood upon the
framework of an unfinished building, in full uniform, sur-
rounded by the legion and a vast throng of citizens. It was
not only his blood, he said, that his enemies sought, but like-
wise the blood of "every man in whose heart dwells a single
spark of the fulness of the gospel." The Saints had not vio-
lated any law, but had always held themselves amenable to
its operations ; and their enemies — those who were now stir-
ring up this strife against them — were endeavoring to hide
their own infamy under cover of alleged ''Mormon" atroci
ties. He and the city councilors had been tried, and ac-
quitted, according to the very terms of the warrant issued
for their apprehension "before some other justice of the
peace." The Governor had been kept informed concerning
all that was done at Nauvoo and also by the strife-breeders.
The General called upon his people to stand by him to the
death in defense of their rights as Americans. After invok-
ing the aid of all "whose hearts thrill with horror to behold
the rights of freemen trampled under foot," He drew his
sword, and, pointing it heavenward, exclaimed —

"I call God and angels to witness that I have unsheathed
my sword with a firm and unalterable determination that this
people shall have their legal rights, and be protected frorh
mob violence, or my blood shall be spilt upon the ground like
water, and my body consigned to the silent tomb. While I
live, I will never tamely submit to the dominion of cursed
mobocrac}'. I would welcome death rather than submit to
this oppression ; and it would be sweet, oh, sweet, to rest in

3-44 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the grave, rather than submit to this oppression, agitation,
annoyance, confusion, and alarm upon alarm any longer."

The Prophet, in consequence of premonitions as to his
approaching death, requested Hyrum to go with his family
to Cincinnati, that he might succeed him in the Presidency
of the Church. But the faithful Hyrum would not leave his
brother at such a critical moment. The apostles who were
absent on missions were asked to return home. Every prep-
aration was made to defend the city should any attack be
made against it.

"Like a Lamb to the Slaughter."
On the 2 1 St, word reached Joseph from the Governor, to the
effect that the executive had arrived at Carthage and re-
questing a conference with persons whom he might wish to
send. John Tayjor and Dn John ^I. P)Lrnliiscl.\vere chosen.
They were familiar with all that had been done in the recent
troubles, and were furnished, moreover, with documents that
would set the Governor right. Upon reaching Carthage,
which they did towards midnight, they went to the Hamilton
hotel, where Governor Ford also stayed. On two different
occasions they were disturbed by men who endeavored, by
falsehood and deceit, to get the brethren separated ; for they
suspected that the approaching conference with his Excel-
lency would prove fatal to their schemes.

Next morning the messengers were invited into the
Governor's rooms. They were surprised and disgusted to
find him surrounded by "some of the vilest and most unprin-
cipled men." Among them were AVilson and William L^w^
£g;§ter, the Higr|^{^^<;. and a dozen or fifteen others, either
apostates or bitter and avowed enemies of the "Mormons."
They laid their case before Governor Ford, and invited him
to inspect the documents, which they placed in his hands.
During their relation of the facts, they "were frequently.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 345

rudely, and impudently contradicted by the fellows he had
around him, of whom he seemed to take no notice." The
Governor himself, as he read aloud some of the papers hand-
ed him, was interrupted by, "That's a lie !" or "That's an in-
fernal falsehood!" There was little probability therefore,
that Mr. Ford, surrounded by such counselors, would be im-
pressed by the conversation of the brethren. The Governor
seemed bent on having Joseph come to Carthage, as the only
means of "satisfying the people," and when it was represent-
ed to him that their lives would thereby be endangered, he
pledged his faith and that of the state that they would be pro-
tected. Returning to Nauvoo, they reported to the Prophet.

On the morning of the 23rd, Joseph, Hyrum, and one
or two others crossed the river with a view to going to the
R^^v mountains. They had decided to do this from a con-
viction that it was only they two that their enemies wanted,
and that if they absented themselves from the city the people
would not be disturbed. But they were prevented from tak-
ing this step by the importunities of their supposed friends,
that they would not desert their posts in this manner and in-
vite certain butchery to their people. So they returned to
Nauvoo, Joseph saying, "If mv life is of no value to my
friends, itjs of none to myself!"

During their absence over the river, a posse from Car-
thage had come to arrest the Prophet and the others named
in the warrant ; but returned, when they discovered that the
brethren were not in the city. Concerning this act Governor
Ford has a luminous passage in his account of the affair.
"The constable," he says, "made no effort to arrest any of
them, nor would he or the guard delay their departure one
minute beyond the time, to see whether an arrest could be
made. Upon their return they reported that they had been
informed that the accused had fled, and could not be found.
I immediately proposed to a council of officers to march into

346 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Nauvoo with the small force then under my command, but
the officers were of the opinion that it was too small, and
many of them insisted upon a further call of the militia. I
was soon informed, however, of the conduct of the constable
and guard, and then I was perfectly satisfied that a most base
fraud had been attempted, that, in fact, it was feared that the
Mormons would submit, and thereby entitle themselves to
the protection of the law. It was very apparent that many
of the bustling, active spirits were afraid that there would be
no occasion for calling out an overwhelming militia force,
for marching into Nauvoo, for probable mutiny when there,
and for tBe extermination of the Mormon race. It appeared
that the constable and the escort were fully in the secret, and
acted well their part to promote the conspiracy."

And so Joseph and Hyrum determined to go to Car-
thage. They wrote a letter to Governor Ford, in 'orhich they
stated that their only objection to being tried at Carthage
was a fear that their lives would not be safe, but that if the
Governor assured them of his protection, they would imme-
diately repair thither. Late that night Theodore Tujley and
Jedediah M. Grant, who had been sent with the letter to the
Governor, returned with the statement that if Joseph and
Hyrum were not at Carthage next day, Kauvoo would be
attacked by an armed force. But the brethren had already
determined to go there, come what might. Next morning
they left their beloved city and proceeded to Carthage.

"This is the loveliest place and the best people under the
heavens," remarked the Prophet as he feasted his eyes upon
th temple and the city ; "little do they know the trials that
await them." And on reaching Daniel _H^. W^|J§'s- home, he
stepped into the house to bid him good-bye. "I wish you to
cherish my memory." he said, "and not think me the worst
man in the world either." A few miles from Carthage they
met a company of mounted militiamen on their way to Nau-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. '^47

voo with an order from Governor Ford to demand the state
arms in the possession of the legion. At Captain Dun's re-
quest Joseph and his brethren returned to the city. It was
at the time of meeting these troops that the Prophet said —

"I am going Hke a lamb to the slaughter ; but I am calm
as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offense
towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and
it shall yet be said of me — he was murdered in cold blood."

After the collection of the state arms, the company of
militia with the "Mormon" party started for Carthage. As
they passed the masonic hall, Joseph said to a number of
people who had gathered there : "Boys, if I don't come back,
take care of yourselves. I am going like a lamb to the
slaughter." And later when they passed the Prophet's farm,
he lingered behind to look at it. Some one remarking upon
his action, he said, "If some of you had such a farm, and
knew you would not see it any more, you v/ould want to take
a good look at it for the last time."

Towards midnight they reached Carthage. "Great ex-
citement," says President Taylor, who was with the party,
"prevailed on and after our arrival. The Governor had re-
received into his company all of the companies that had been
in the mob, these fellows were riotous and disorderly, halloo-
ing, yelling, and whooping about the streets like Indians,
many of them intoxicated; the v>diole presented a scene of
rowdyism and low-bred ruffianism only found among mobo-
crats and desperadoes, and entirely revolting to the best feel-
ings of humanity." That night they rested at the Hamilton.

It will be remembered that the contention of the author-
ities at Carthage was that Joseph and the city councilors
must be tried by_Mpr,rison, the justice who issued the war-
rant. No other justice would answer the purpose. But the
day after their arrival at Carthage they were taken before a
Justice Smith, who was also captain of the Carthage greys ;

diS ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

but they were released on heavy bail. Later, however, Jo-
seph and Hyrum were arrested for treason on a writ sworn
out by two apostates named Spencer and Norton — "two
worthless fellows," says Elder Taylor, "whose words would
not have been taken for five cents, and the first of whom had
a short time previously been before the mayor in Nauvoo for
maltreating a lame brother." On this charge they were re-
manded to prison, first occupying a cell, but afterwards what
was called the "debtors' ward." (^vernor Ford declares that
the brethren were placed here for the purpose of better pre-
serving their lives, but they strongly objected to being con-
fined there. On the morning of the 26th Governor Ford
and Joseph had a lengthy interview, in which the whole sit-
uation was gone over by the latter at the Governor's request.
It was on this occasion that the executive promised tqjiake
Joseph with him to Nauvoo, if he went, as was his intention
then. He also renewed his pledge to furnish him the neces-
sary protection from mob violence. That afternoon the
prisoners were illegally taken from the jail to the court of
Justice Smith, but the trial was postponed till tb^ ^/tj'' which
date the justice afterwards changed to tlie.,_29lli, in order
that, as Captain of the Carthage greys he might accompany
Governor Ford to Nauvoo. The brethren were taken back to
ia.U. ,

That night the seven men in the prison — Joseph aDtL Hy-
rum Smith, John Taylor. Willard Richards, John S. Fullmer,
Stephen Markham, and Dan Jones^^ — spent in as pleasant a
way as circumstances would allow. After the rest had re-
tired, which they did at a late hour, Brother Richards sat up
writing as long as his candles would permit. Joseph and
Hyrum lay on the only bedstead in the room, the others were
stretched out on the floor. But it appears that there was not
much sleep on the part of any of them. The Prophet es-
pecially, who under every other peril of his perilous life had

DNe hundred years of mormonisM. 34d

exhibited such a cahn demeanor, appeared to entertain grave
apprehensions concerning his safety. During the night a
gunshot outside broke the stillness, which caused Joseph to
exchange his place in the bed for one on the floor between
Elders Jones and Fullmer.

"Lay your head on my arm for a pillow. Brother Full-
mer," he said ; after which the two carried on a conversation
in an undertone.

"I would like to see my family again," he remarked
among other misgivings as to his fate. "I would to God that
I might preach to the Saints in Nauvoo once more." Then a
silence, and presently, to Dan Jones —

"Are you afraid to die?"

"Do you think that time has come ? Engaged in such a
cause I do not think death would have many terrors."

"You will yet see Wales, and fill the mission appointed
you, before you die," the Prophet said.

On the morning of the.2|th, r^yvpri^Qf Ford went to
Nauvoo, but he. did not take the Prophet because at a council
his officers had deemed it "highly inexpedient and danger-
ous" for them to do so. He had dismissed all of the twelve
or thirteen hundred troops at Carthage, except three com-
panies, one of which now accompanied him to Nauvoo, and
the other two — the Carthage greys — were left to guard the
jail. On reaching the city, he delivered an address before a
body of people variously estimated at from one to five thou-
sand, which appears not to have been much to the liking of
his hearers, as, according to his own words, they were rather
impatient at his harangue ; since he warned them against cre-
ating any disturbance lest the whole country come down up-
on them.

Meantime, at Carthage the day passed away quietly
enough for the prisoners. It was now approaching late
afternoon. Elders Markham, Fullmer, and Jones had left

350 ONE ITUNDKRD YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the jail, the last having been refused admittance once he had
gone out, the first having been forcibly helped on his horse
and driven out of town at the muzzle of the gun, though he
held a passport, signed by the Governor, permitting him to
go in and out of the jail at pleasure. The four brethren, now
confined, felt "unusually dull and languid, with a remarkable
depression of spirits." Brother Taylor sang twice a hymn,
lately introduced into Nauvoo, "A Poor Wayfaring Man of
Grief," the second time at the request of Hvrum.

Soon after this, Elder Taylor,, on looking out of the win-
dow, saw a number of men with painted faces coming to-
wards the jail. Instantly Dr. Richards and Hyruni sprang
to the door pressing their shoulders against it. The mob as-
cended the stairway, pushed on the door, and finding that
they could not get in, fired through the keyhole. Presently
another shot came through the door, striking Hyrum on the
left side of the nose. At the same time another ball from the
outside struck him, passing through his body. This last
came from the window and was doubtless fired by one of the
Carthage greys, the company placed there to protect the pris-
soners from violence! Hyrum fell, exclaiming — 'T am a
dead man!"

Joseph, with grief indescribable overspreading his coun-
tenance, approached the body of his brother, bent over it, and
cried, "Oh ! my poor, dear brother Hyrum !" But, instantly
recovering himself, he stepped quickly, firmly to the door,
with determined countenance, and, pulling from his pocket a
six-shooter left him by Brother Wheelock, opened the door
slightly, snapped it six times successively, three barrels of
which were discharged. This done, he stepped back, where-
upon the mob clambered up farther on the stairs and dis-
charged their guns into the room. Elder Taylor parrying
them oflf with a stick. Great streams of fire came through the
doorway. The crowd below grew every instant, and it ap-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 351

peared that in a nioincnt the niol) would break into the room.
Elder Taylor at this point went to the window with the
intention of leaping out, when a ball struck him in the thigh
and he fell forward, and would have gone out of the window
but for another shot which struck his watch and caused him
to fall inside the room. He crawled under the bed, being
wounded in three other places while doing so.

The Prophet afterwards attempted to leap out of the
window, when two balls pierced him and he fell outward ex-
claiming—

At this instant the mob outside shouted, "He's leaped
the window !"' and immediately the crowd left the stairway.
This probably saved Elder Richards' life, since he was thus
far unhurt. The Doctor started for the door to learn whether
the doors into the prison were unbarred, when Elder Taylor
spoke up —

"Stop, Doctor, take me along." He did so, and the
wounded man was dragged into a narrow cell prepared for
criminals.

"Oh, Brother Taylor," exclaimed Dr. Richards, "is it
possible that they have killed both Brother Hyrum and Jo-
seph ? It cannot surely be, and yet I saw them shoot them."
And raising his hands two or three times, he cried out, "O
Lord, my God, spare thy servants."

"Brother Taylor," he said, covering him with a filthy
mattress, "this is a terrible event! I am sorry I can do no
better for you. You may yet live to tell the tale, but I expect
they will kill me in a few minutes.

But the fiendish murder was done. In three minutes the
mob had done its work^killed the Prophet and Patriarch,
and critically wounded Apostle Taylor. Then they fled in
consternation from the scene of the butchery. Not only they
but the people in the town and its environments made a pre-

352 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISA^.

cipitate flig-ht, and the only jjcrsons left at Carthage were Dr.
Richards, the hotel-keeper, and one other, besides the dead
and wounded. The wicked fled, but no man pursued, or
thought of pursuing !

At 8 o'clock a messenger was despatched to. .JMauvoo
with a note signed by Elders Richards and Taylor, announc-
ing the assassination of Joseph and Hyrum. But the mes-
senger was prevented from entering the town by the Gover-
nor's troops, and brought back to Carthage. So that the
news did not reach the city till next morning. On the Gov-
ernor's arrival at the scene of the murder, Dr. Richards sent
a message to Xauvoo, in which occur these words —

"I say to all citizens of Nauvoo — My brethren, be still,
and know that God reigns. Don't rush out of the city — don't
rush to Carthage — stay at home and be prepared for an at-
tack from Missouri mobbers."

Then the Governor fled to Ouincy.

On the 28th the bodies of the Prophet and Patriarch
\^ere taken to . Nauvoo . A concourse of people met them
outside the city. "The women broke out in lamentations,"
says an ear witness "at the sight of the two rude boxes in the
wagon covered by an Indian blanket. The weeping was
communicated to the crowd, and spread along the vast waves
of humanity extending from the temple to the residence of
the Prophet. The groans and sobs and shrieks grew deeper
and louder, till the sound resembled the roar of a mighty
tempest, or the slow, deep roar of the distant tornado." Ar-
rived at the mansion house, the bodies were prepared for
burial, and twenty thousand people looked upon the faces of
the dead.

There was a public burial at the cemetery, but only bags
of^sand were deposited in the graves. The real bodies were
buried in the unfinished Nauvoo house at dead of night by
only a few who knew the secret. In the fall of that year,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 353

however, they were taken up and interred in the rear of the
house where Joseph had hved.

At the October term of the Hancock circuit court, the
g"rand jury brought in two indictments against nine persons.
The trial occurred in May^ i8^, extending from the ninth
to the thirtieth, and the jury brought in a verdict of "Not
guilty." Judge Young, in his charge to the jury, said among
other things, that, "when the evidence is circumstantial, ad-
mitting all to be proven which the evidence tends to prove, if
then the jury can make any suppositions consistent with the
facts, by which the murder might have been committed with-
out the agency of the defendants, it will be their duty to make
that supposition, and find the defendants not guilty."

"During the progress of the trial," declares Governor
Ford in his account, "the judge was compelled to permit the
courthouse to be filled and surrounded by armed bands, who
attended court to browbeat and overawe the administration
of justice. The judge himself was in duress, and informed
me that he did not consider his life secure any part of the
time."

Thus the case was ended. But "there was not a man on
the jury, in the court, in the country, that did not know the
defendants had done the murder. But it was not proven,
and the verdict of not guilty was right in law." "The elis-
ors," savs Tohn Hay, the late Secretary of State, from whom
the preceding sentence is quoted, "presented ninety-nine men
before twelve were found ignorant enough and indififerent
jenough to act as jurors."

Joseph and Hyrum "were innocent of any crime, as they
had often been proved before, and were only confined in iail
by the conspiracy of traitors and wicked men ; and their in-
nocent blood on the floor of Carthage jail, is a broad seal af-
fixed to "Mormonism" that cannot be rejected by any court

on earth; and their innocent blood on the escutcheon of the
23

354 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

State of Illinois, with the broken faith of the state as pledged
by the governor, is a witness to the truth of the everlasting
Gospel, that all the world cannot impeach; and their inno-
cent blood on the banner of liberty, and on the magna charta
of the United States, is an ambassador for the religion of
Jesus Christ, that will touch the hearts of honest men among
all nations ; and their innocent blood, with the innocent blood
of all the martyrs under the altar that John saw, will cry un-
to the Lord of hosts, till he avenges that blood on the earth."

CHAPTER VI.

THE ENIGMA OF PALMYRA.

In the "Arabian Nights' Entertainment" there is a story of
a man who approached the door of a cave, "a large chamber,
well lighted from the top, and in it all sorts of provisions,
rich bales of silkstuff, brocade, and carpeting, gold and silver
ingots in great heaps, and money in bags." Now, Cassim —
for that was the man's name — had greed and murder in his
heart, which, together with the excitement he was under at
finding such a rich treasure, made him forget the charm by
which alone it might be obtained. "Open barley," he cried,
"open rye," and so on till he had exhausted his memory of
the grains. "Sesame" was the only one he could not remem-
ber, and "Sesame" was the only word to which the door of
this chamber of fabulous wealth flew open. And so it was
to him as though it had not been.

It is something after this fashion that a great many peo-
ple approach the door of the-treasure of truth locked up in
the soul of "Mormonism's " earthly founder. The hate and
bitterness and evil purposes lurking in their hearts, often in
fact showing upon their face and general appearance, cause
them to forget the charmed words by which alone that treas-
ure-house will pour forth its precious contents. "Open im-
postor," they cry out in their overflowing venom, "open de-
ceiver, false prophet, base man!" But to them the door re-
mains forever sealed. It opens only to "Man of God !"

When, may we ask, abandoning this figure of speech,
has Hate ever penetrated into the depths of the human soul
and brought forth anything that would give us the slightest
bint of what was there? When has the steel-cold glance of

356 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

enmity ever gone farther into the heart of man than the sur-
face, that fickle outside which never can be depended upon?
When has the spleen of enemies ever given us a clew to the
mysterious workings of human motive, which alone furnish-
es the criterion of conduct? And yet this is the attitude in
which nine-tenths of Joseph Smith's critics approach the
study of his character. Before they ever begin their investi-
gation of this problem they securely fortify themselves be-
hind the conviction that he is a religious fraud, and that they
are to disclose a mass of deceit, superstition, and ignorance.
Is it any marvel, then, that they. see nothing else? They come
to him prepared, nay in some instances determined to see
nothing else. Everything is yellow to the jaundiced eye.

The enemies of the "Mormon" Prophet and of the work
he established will have to change their methods of question-
ing this man's life. First, they must see the facts of his ca-
reer in the light, not of his personal enemies, but in t'lai < '"
his friends, and those also who have no purpose to serve. And
then they must not confound those facts with their own or
others' inferences. Lastly, they must view those incidents in
his life without any preconceived notions; in other words
they must be prepared to praise the good they find as well as
condemn the ill. This cannot be too much insisted upon. In
what light do the Catholics regard the heroic stand of the
great Luther? In that of a heretic, the instrument^ of dark-
ness ! What kind of biography, think you, the Pharisaical
priests would have written of Jesus ? And how should Chris-
tianity be explained on the assumption that its founder was
an impostor? Only the friends of the mighty reformer can
appreciate the sublime struggle for good that went on in his
soul. Only Christ's disciples could understand the marvel-
ous facts of his earthly career. And, in like manner, only the
followers of the latter-day Prophet can comprehend his un-
selfish devotion to dutv and truth.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 357

In the light of these reflections, let us examine a few in-
cidents in the life of the Prophet Joseph; his dealings with
his fellow-men, and the sentiments and feelings he inspired
in those who knew him best.

"A man of commanding appearance," is Josiah Quincy's
description of the great Prophet in 1844, in the full flush of
his maturity. And elsewhere he declares : "A fine-looking
man is what the passer-by would instinctively have mur-
mured upon meeting the remarkable individual who had
fashioned the mould which was to shape the feelings of so
many thousands of his fellow-mortals. But Smith was more
than this, and one could not resist the impression that ca-
pacity and resource were natural to his stalwart person." Of
all men whom Mr. Quincy had met, and the range of his ac-
quaintance with great men was very wide, Joseph was one of
the two men he could name who "seemed best endowed with
that kingly faculty which directs, as by intrinsic right, the
feeble or confused souls who are looking for guidance." He
speaks also of "the impression of rugged power that was
given by the man." "The Prophet," wrote an English trav-
eler, in 1843, "is ajcind, cheerful, sociable conipanion. I be-
lieve that he has the good-will of the community at large, and
that he is ever ready to stand by and defend them in any ex-
tremity; and as I saw the Prophet and his brother Hyrum
conversing together one day, I thought I beheld two of tlie
greatest men of the nineteenth century." An officer of the
United States artillery, who visited Nauvoo in 1842, said,
"The Smiths are not without talent. Joseph the chief is a
noble-looking fellow, a Mahomet every inch of him." And
a member of Congress, after meeting the Prophet at Wash-
ington, wrote home to his wife, "He is apparently from forty
to forty-five years of age, rather above the middle stature,
and what the ladies would call a very good-looking man. In
his garb there are no peculiarities, his dress being that of a

358 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

plain, unpretending citizen. He is by profession a farmer,
but is evidently well-read." Speaking of his address in gen-
eral this same Congressman further observes that "every-
thing he says is in a manner to leave an impression that he is
sincere. There is nojevity, no fanaticism, no want of dig-
nityin his dejjortment." A ]\[asonic grand master said of
the Prophet in the Advocate : "With Joseph Smith, the hos-
pitality of whose house I kindly received, I was well pleased.
Of course, on the subject of religion we widely differed, but
he appeared to be quite as willing to permit me to enjoy my
right of opinion as I think we all ought to be to let the Mor-
mons enjoy theirs. But instead of the ignorant and tyran-
nical upstart, judge my surprise at finding him a sensible, in-

telligent companion and gentlemanly man. He

is a fine-looking man, about^thirty-six years of age, and has
an interesting family."

All this is from intelligent and educated gentlemen, non-
"Mormons," who were accustomed to careful and accurate
observation of facts and persons. We turn now to the es-
timation in which he was held by his own people.

The late President George Q. Cannon, who was a youth
at the time of Nauvoo's glory, writes in his Life of Joseph
Smith : "He was during this period a man of great physical
beauty and stateliness. He \yas j^stsix-feet in height, stand-
ing m his stockings, and was grandly proportioned. In his
mature years he weighed about two hundred pounds. His
_^yes were__blue_aBdlender ; hi^. hair was brown, plentiful, and
wavy; he wore no beard, and his complexion was one of
transparency so rare as to be remarkable ; the exquisite clear-
ness of his skin was never clouded, his face being naturally
almost without hair. His carriage was erect and graceful ;
he moved always with an air of dignity and power which
strangers often called ^kiogl^ He was full of physical en-
ergy and daring. Without any appearance of effort he could

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 359

perform astonishing feats of strength and agihty ; and with'
out any apparent thought of fear he met and smiled upon
every physical danger."

Apostle Amasa Lyman, in referring to the impressions
made upon him, in 1833, by a meeting with the Prophet at
Kirtland, Ohio, says : "Of the impressions produced I will
here say, although there was nothing strange or different
from other men in his personal appearance, yet, when he
grasped my hand in that cordial way ((known to those who
have met him in the honest simplicity of truth)",' I felt as one
of old in the presence of the Lord ; my strength seemed to be
gone, so that it required an effort on my part to stand on my
feet ; but in all there was no fear, but the serenity and peace
of heaven pervaded my soul, and the still small voice of the
Spirit whispered its living testimony in the depths of my
soul, where it has ever remained, that he was a man
of God."

Apostle Parley P. Pratt, who also knew the Prophet
long and intimately, after a description of his personal ap-
pearance, says : "He possessed a noble boldness and inde-
pendence of character, his manner was easy and familiar; his
rebuke terrible as the Hon ; his benevolence unbounded as the
ocean ; his intelligence universal, and his language abounding
in original eloquence peculiar to himself — not polished — not
studied — not smoothed and softened by education and re-
fined by art ; but flowing forth in its own native simplicity,
and profusely abounding in variety of subject and manner.
He interested and edified, while, at the same time, he amused
and entertained his audience; and none listened to him who
were ever weary with his discourse. I have even known him
to retain a congregation of willing and anxious listeners for
many hours together, in the midst of cold or sunshine, rain
or wind, while they were laughing at one moment and weep-

360 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

ing the next. Even his most bitter enemies were generally
overcome, if he could once get their ears."

These testimonies will be sufficient to establish some im-
portant facts concerning Joseph Smith's appearance and gen-
eral character. There does not exist, to our knowledge, any
statements to contradict this uniform testimony; at least no
statements at first hand. There are a great many people in
the world who entertain very different notions concerning the
Prophet's looks and character, but these are deductions of
what they have heard his religious opponents say of his
teachings, which have usually been described as being ex-
ceedingly unlovely. We may now go with greater detail into
the facts of his life.

We have already seen that there was nothing peculiar
about his dress. This was always a matter of comment b)'
those who had heard of his claims to being a prophet. They
expected to see some fantastic display, gaudy robes, a variety
of colors, or what not. But instead they saw only the dress
of a common citizen. Mr. Quincy says that when he visited
him at Nauvoo in 1844 he was "clad in the costume of a
journeyman carpenter when about his wprk," and that "he
wore striped pantaloons, a linen jacket, which had not lately
seen the washtub, and a beard of some three days' growth."
On the Sabbath day he was dressed no better and no worse
than scores of other men at Nauvoo. All this is a strong
refutation, not only of the notions that he was peculiarly
dressed, but also of the idea that some anti-"Mormon''
writers would have us believe of his being arrayed in the
highest fashion of the times.

From the first to the last of his troubled career, he was
jovial and cheerful. This is admitted by those who can find
nothing else in his character to praise. His face always wore
a smile, and he ever had a glad word for the depressed. It is
difficult to imagine how he could have borne the weight of

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 361

care, anxiety, and persecution that was his lot, if it had not
l)een for his extraordinary 1)uoyancy of spirits. He was ar-
rested some forty times on various charges, and, though nev-
er once convicted of an ofifense even when his enemies were
judges and jurors, spent several months in prison ; he was
tarred and feathered while in the hands of his foes; he was
several times in peril of his life, having been sentenced to be
shot; he was forced to remain in concealment among his
friends, going from house to house and narrowly escaping
his unjust pursuers; and at last he found a martyr's grave
before he was thirty-nine years ol4- And yet, in the midst of
this excessively unquiet career, he was unusually cheerful.
Indeed, if he had not been, his soul would have been over-
whelmed by the force of personal distress, to say nothing of
that which, in a way, he was responsible for in the people he
led.

At once an aid to his buoyant disposition and a result of
it, was his love for athletic sports. This was manifest through-
out his life. "He loved to unbend and wrestle or jump with
a friend. The men who could contest with him were very
few. He could stand and leap over a bar higher than his
head." Once two ministers, whom he had conquered in de-
bate, were greatly shocked at being invited by him to "jump
at a mark.'" On another occasion, while the Prophet was on
his way from Dixon to Nauvoo in charge of Reynolds and
Wilson, one of the lawyers engaged by these sheriffs, who
boasted of his prowess as a wrestler, offered to wager any
sum that he could throw any man in Illinois at side-hold. He
and Markham wrestled for fun, and he threw Stephen. At
this ignominious defeat of one of his party, Joseph said to a
young man named Philemon C. Merrill, also from Nauvoo,
"Get up and throw that man." Merrill arose "filled with the
strength of a Samson," and lifting up both arms, told the
lawyer to take his choice of sides.

I.

362 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

"Now, Philemon/' said the Prophet, "when I count
three, throw him !" And Philemon did, pitching the brag-
gart attorney over his shoulder on to the ground.

That the Prophet possessed a fund of humor migJat^aJ-
most be taken for granted. Still we have little in the way of
incident to show this side of his versatile nature. Josiah
Quincy gives an instance.

"It seems to me General," remarked Mr. Quincy, as
Joseph was driving the party to the river about sunset, "that
you have too much power to be safely trusted to one man."

"In your hands or that of any other person," was the re-
ply, "so much power would, no doubt, be dangerous." And
then he added "in a rich comical aside, as if in hearty
recognition of the ridiculous sound the words might have in
the ears of a Gentile," "Remember, I am a Prophet!"

Mr. Quincy gives a couple of examples of Joseph's pow-
ers of Repartee. At the request of Dr. Goforth, one of the
visiting party, the Prophet preached a sermon, standing on
the steps leading to the mansion, to a few people in the
street. He was asserting that baptism is essential to salva-
tion.

"Stop!" said a Methodist minister "who thought it in-
cumbent upon him to question the soundness of certain theo-
logical positions maintained by the speaker." "What do you
say to the penitent thief?"

"What do you mean ?" inquired the Prophet.

"You know our Savior said to the thief, 'This day shalt
thou be with me in Paradise,' which shows he could not have
been baptized before his admission."

"How do you know he wasn't baptized before he be-
came a thief?" Whereupon "the sort of laugh that is pro-
voked by an unexpected hit ran through the audience ; but
this demonstration of sympathy was rebuked by a severe
look from Smith," who went on to say :

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 363

"But that is not the true answer. In the original Greek,
the word that has been translated paradise means simply a
place of departed spirits. To that place the penitent thief
was conveyed, and there, doubtless, he received the baptism
necessary for his admission to the heavenly kingdom."

And so, adds Mr. Quincy, ''the other objections of his
antagonist were parried w^ith a similar adroitness."

Later than this, the party were passing the grove, and
Joseph accounted for the seats and platform by saying that
when the weather permitted services were held there.

"I suppose," said the Minister, "none but Mormon
preachers are allowed in Nauvoo."

"On the contrary," was the reply, "I shall be very hap-
py to have you address my people next Sunday, and I will
insure you a most attentive congregation."

"What ! do you mean that I may say anything I please
and that you will make no reply ?"

"You may certainly say anything you please; but 1
must reserve the right of adding a word or two, if I judge
best. I promise to speak of you in the most respectful man-
ner."

As the party rode back, there was more disputing be-
tween the two.

"Come," said the Prophet, "slapping his antagonist on
the knee, to emphasize the production of a triumphant text,"
"if you can't argue better than that, you shall say all you
want to say to my people, and I will promise to hold my
tongue, for there's not a Mormon among them who would
need my assistance to answer you."

Soon after this, in allusion to some erroneous doctrine,
the preacher suddenly exclaimed :

"Why, I told my congregation the other Sunday that
they might as well believe Joe Smith as such theology as
that."

364 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

"Did you say Joe Smith?" asked the Prophet.

"Of course, I did. Why not?" was the answer.

"Considering only the day and the place," replied the
Prophet, with a "quiet superiority that was overwhelming,"
"it would have been more respectful to have said Lieutenant-
General Joseph Smith."

"Clearly," concludes Mr, Quincy, "the worthy minister
was no match for the head of the Mormon Church."

The Prophet never laid any claims to polish and refine:;
nignt. Of scholastic education he had enjoyed very little. In
his early life he could barely read, write, and cypher. In-
deed, to the end of his life he was a poor penman. He seems
never to have been master of the mechanical features of
written style, as the specimens of his literary efforts remain-
ing sufficiently testify. And this fact must be taken into con-
sideration when it comes to estimating the value of such
documents as the "Views," in the interpretation of his char-
acter. In that instrument, which, judged by the thought, is
able and striking, eight languages are quoted, showing a ten-
dency on the part of the writer of it to air his linguistic
knowledge. But this literary shallowness is not to be at-
tributed to Joseph. All his life, however, he was a student;
and considering the intense activity of the man, together
with his large executive duties and the difficulties of himself
and his people, he amassed an extraordinary amount of in-
formation of a miscellaneous character. He studied, under
capable teachers, Hebre:^^ Greek, Latin, and German,
though, to be sure, he could not boast any more than a com-
paratively superficial acquaintance with any one of these lan-
guages. Daniel H. Weljs, a man of trained legal abilities,
was wont to say that Joseph had a wonderful knowledge of
Constitutional law. He was well versed in general history,
and though he appears never to have given much attention to
science, as such, his naturally vigorous and powerful under-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 365

standing grasped almost intuitively the great fundamentals
of scientific truth. In all his researches he was aided unusu-
ally by the Holy Spirit, whose devoted pupil he was, if we
may be permitted to use this expression. His specialty,
however, was theology, the science of God, in which he was
incomparably the superior of every other living man, and
this, in reality, is but small praise.

We have many sayings of the Prophet's, as well as nu-
merous incidents of his life, that go to show his .unbounded
affectipii, not only to his family and relatives, but also to all
his friends, and even to the lower animals. The ties which
bound him to his father and mother and brothers and sisters
were of the strongest and most enduring kind. The Smiths
have always been a clanish family. It was a source of un-
speakable grief to Joseph when he had any difficulties be-
tween himself and his brother William, as happened once or
twice. To Hyrum his heart was bound with a love stronger
than the love of sex. In life they were not separated, and in
death they were not divided. But his soul reached out to his
whole people, whom he loved most passionately. On learn-
ing, in 1833, of the expulsion of his people from Jackson
county and the suflferings attendent thereupon, he burst into
tears and sobbed aloud, "Oh, my brethren, my brethren,
would that I had been with you to share your fate. Al-
mighty God, what shall we do in such a trial as this !"

"We remember your family with all the first families of
the Church who first embraced the truth," wrote Joseph to a
Brother Peck, in a letter which he signed, "Your unworthy
brother and fellow laborer." "\ye remember your losses and
sorrows ; we participate with you in the evil as well as the
good, in the sorrows as well as the joys; our union, we trust,
is stronger than death, and shall never be severed."

Not long before his death, he said in a public meeting
that he was the same man that he was fourteen years previ-

366 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

ously and just as innocent. "As I grow older," he continued,
"my heart grows tenderer for you. I am at all times ready
to give up everything that is wrong, for I wish this people
to have a virtuous leader."

And in return for all this the Saints — those who knew
him most intimately — loved him as perhaps no other man has
been loved. The great bod}- of the Church always hail Jhe
most perfect .confideace in his integrity and in his teachings.
"I felt as if I could willingly lay down my life for him," said
an aged brother to the author recently. And he added, "I
don't know what I should have done, you know, had the test
come ; but that was my feehng at the time ; and I believe that
I would have done so. Oh, how I loved that man!" This
was the sentiment of many thousands. No one who has con-
versed with the survivors of those days with the Prophet
Joseph will regard such expressions as meanlingless effu-
sions. Nothing shows better how deep and genuine were the
feelings of the people for their leader than the universal
grief that prevailed when he was struck down by assassins at
Carthage. President Taylor's expressions may be taken as
representative of the general sorrow. "I felt a dull, lonely,
sickening sensation at the news," he says when his worst
fears concerning Joseph were confirmed at the jail by Dr.
Richards. "When I reflected that our noble chieftain, the
prophet of the living God, was fallen, and that I had seen his
brother in the cold embrace of death, it seemed as though
there was a void or vacuum in the great field of human ex-
istence to me, and a dark, gloomy chasm in the kingdom, and
that we were left alone. Oh how lonely was that feeling !
How cold, barren, and desolate! In the midst of difficulties
he was always the first in motion ; in critical positions his
counsel was always sought. As our prophet he approached
our God, and obtained for us His will ; but now our prophet,
our counselor, our general, our leader was gone, and amid

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 367

the fiery ordeal that we then had to pass through, we were
left alone without his aid, and as our future guide for things
spiritual or temporal, and for all things pertaining to this
world or the next, he had spoken for the last time on earth !"

But these things do not exhibit in full the greatness of
Joseph Smith. A man is to be judged by what he does, as a
tree is judged by the fruit it puts forth. If that work be of a
superior character the man is great ; and, on the contrary, if
that be inferior, the man is not great.

One test of greatness is the power to handle men. Jo-
seph Smith had this in a most extraordinary degree. Of this
fact we have ample proof in the way in which the hosts of
"Mormons" hung together in those troublous times at Kirt-
land, in Missouri, and even in Illinois. And the people
whom he had gathered around him included almost all the
degrees of intelligence from those who were both illiterate
and ignorant to the college graduate. The common people
looked upon the Prophet as they would upon an angel de-
scended from heaven and dwelling among them for a season.
"He was food to my soul," said a man to me the other day,
who, in 1844, was an English immigrant, "and I could never
take my eyes ofif him when I was in his presence. I would
rather hear him preach five minutes than Sidney Rigdon half
a day !" And Sidney Rigdon was celebrated among the
cultured for his eloquence. When I asked him how it was
that he preferred Joseph's discourse, he replied : "Because
he always spoke so simple, and it was always so true !" But
it was not only the common people he thus exercised his in-
fluence over. Joseph Smith was surrounded by some of the
boldest and most independent spirits that could be found ; for
among his associates were Brigham Young, John Taylor,
Wilford Woodruff, Sidney Rigdon, the two Pratts, Amasa
Lyman, and a host of others, only a few degrees inferior to
these. And yet all these men looked up to him as to a great

368 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

teacher. They were as children in his hands. Further still,
he exerted the same mysterious power over those whom he
had never seen in the flesh, but who had embraced the gospel.
Josiah Quincy, to whom I have referred so many times in
this chapter, quotes letters from two Saints in England, who
were evidently intelligent, educated men, in which they ex-
hibited great love for the Prophet and confidence in his di-
vine calling. Mr. Quincy gives these quotations for the pur-
pose, as he says, of showing "what really good material
Smith managed to draw into his net ;" and he goes on to ask :
"Were such fish to be caught with Spaulding's tedious ro-
mance and a puerile fable of undecipherable gold plates and
gigantic spectacles? Not these cheap and wretched proper-
ties, but some mastering force of the man who handled them,
inspired the devoted missionaries who worked such won-
ders." These foreign proselytes looked to the Prophet as to
some great, mysterious spiritual force, and longed eagerly
for the time when they might cut in twain every tender cord
that had bound them to their homes and native land, to look
upon his face!

Again, the work which this man performed is a lasting
monument to his great name. We pass by his production of
the Book of Mormon at a time in his life when he was almost
unlettered, at least inexperienced in everything but the farm
life of Western New York, and come to the great Church or-
ganization that he effected. By all who have considered it
without prejudice it is regarded as the most perfect and com-
plete organization in the world. Professor Ely thinks that
the German army alone ought to be excepted from this state-
ment. The Church organization is at once so simple and yet
so comprehensive in its operations. And this, hiunaaLy
speaking, is the product of Joseph Smith.

Such, in brief, are some of the facts in the life of the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 369

Prophet. But these, it is perhaps needless to say, are not the
facts to be found in anti-" Mormon" works. Those writers
carefully avoid them, because they would prove fatal to their
working hypothesis that Joseph Smith was an impostor, low,
ignorant, licentious. They are content, instead, to set down
such inventions as Joseph's purported walking on water, like
the Savior, but with planks under his feet to keep him from
sinking, and a multitude of such silly stories, that would at
once have' dissipated every shred of faith in his devotees,
however ignorant and superstitious they might have been.
But such facts as we have given are contained in the writ-
ings of non-"Mormons," who had no private, motive to
serve and no grudge to take out upon the Saints. Such men
candidly admit that they cannot understand the "Mormon"
Prophet. Mr. Quincy ends his exceedingly interesting work
on Joseph Smith by the words : 'T have endeavored to give
the details of my visit to the Mormon prophet with absolute
accuracy. If the reader does not know just what to make of
Joseph Smith, I cannot help him out of the difficulty. / my-
self stand helpless before the puzzle."

And this brings us back to the point of beginning. To
reconcile the apparent contradictions in this life will never
be possible by assuming him to be a false prophet, a deceiver,
a hypocrite, a fraud, and so on. This only increases the
difficulty for honest men wishing to arrive at the truth. The
only solution of the problem is to presuppose that Joseph was
a true prophet sent of God. Then every thing of a puzzling
or enigmatical character that enemies have imagined they de-
tected in him, will at once disappear. Then it will be under-
stood how he could exert such a powerful influence over his
heterogeneous people. Then it will be perfectly clear how it
was that they clung to him till his death, and how fondly they
still cherish his name. Then it will be comprehended how it

370

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

was that he permitted the seal of martyrdom to be placed on
his work.

"Born in the lowest ranks of i)Overty, without book
learning and with the homeliest of all human names, he had
made himself at the age of thirty-nine a power upon earth."

CHAPTER VII.

THE VOICE OF THE SHEPHERD.

The untimely death of the Prophet Joseph threw the Church
into confusion. This was the first time in its history that
such an event as the loss of its leader and president had oc-
curred. But the Church was not therefore disorganized.
The confusion was only momentary. "Mormonism" was not
broken up, nor was it even to pause in its miraculous career.
God had provided a means by which the work that he had
established was kept entirely free from dependence upon any
man, be that even its first prophet and earthly founder.

The Flock Shet>]ierdless.

Nevertheless, that was a critical point in the history of the
Church. Here were between twenty and thirty thousand
peoole gathered in Nauvoo and vicinit^^ from various states
and from England, suddenly deprived of their prophet-lead-
er. They had followed him as few men are followed in this
world of distrust and unbelief. They had hung devotedly
to his every word, in the firm conviction that he was a
special messenger sent from God, and that his utterances
were inspired. While they enjoyed his companionship they
did not think of the time when they would be deprived of his
presence. They were satisfied with present blessings, and
attempted not to look into the future to see what it had in
store for them. Hitherto he had been, as they believed,
miraculously preserved from his enemies. And now that he
was gone, they felt the utter emptiness of heart that comes
with a personal loss. He had been to them a father, and as
children they mourned his untimely taking ofif.

372 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Their grief for the Prophet's death was augmented by a
feeling of uneasiness concerning the question of his success-
or in the leadership of the Church, and also by a vague
dread lest the same malice that had slain the Prophet and
Patriarch should turn unsatisfied upon them. There ap-
peared an over-eagerness on the part of some persons at
Nauvoo to "set things right." And as the principals in this
needless energy were officials who outwardly manifested
nothing but a genuine anxiety for the public welfare, but who
in their secret hearts were apostates, the agitation of the
matter did a great deal towards unsettling affairs. The city
council had passed resolutions to the effect that they would
"rigidly sustain the laws and the governor of the state."
This they had done in response to a request of Governor
Ford's through his agents. Colonel Fellows and Captain
Jonas, so that he might know their intentions in view of the
recent tragedy at Carthage. The same thing was desired of
the people at Warsaw. But they replied that they would not
sustain the Governor in his pacific methods where the "Mor-
mons" were concerned. Instead, they hypocritically de-
manded him to tell them which should leave the state —
themselves or the "Mormons." And he weakly replied —
for Governor Ford appears to have been a timid, indecisive
creature — that he would not undertake to point out so deli-
cate a matter ! A thing which they knew before hand. Had
he been a man of character, energy, and justice, he would
have given them such an answer as would have put a damper
upon their murderous spirit. At the same time he undertook,
needlessly enough, to quiet the feelings of the Saints by hold-
ing over them the terrors of mob violence.

A noble-spirited letter, signed by Elders Phelps, Rich-
ards, and Taylor, was published about this time in the Times
and Seasons. "Be peaceful, quiet citizens," it counseled,
"doing the works of righteousness, and as soon as the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 373

Twelve and other authorities can assemble, or a majority of
them, the onward course to the great gathering of Israel, and
the final consummation of the dispensation of the fulness of

times will be pointed out Union is peace,

brethren, and eternal life is the greatest gift of God. Re-
joice, then, that you are found worthy to live and die for
God. Men may kill the body, but they cannot hurt the soul,
and wisdom shall be justified of her children."

False Shepherds.

Of the leading brethren, only a few were at Nauvoo when
the Prophet and Patriarch were murdered. Sidney Rigdon
was at Pittsburg, and all the apostles except Willard Rich-
ards and John Taylor were away on missions, most of them
being in the East. Joseph, before he went to Carthage, had
sent for the Twelve to return ; but it would be long before
word reached them, for there were no railroads or telegraph
lines in the West at the time. After this tragedy, other mes-
sages had been sent to them. But before their arrival some
queer things were going on at the headquarters of the
Church.

On August, 3d Sidney Rigdon unexpectedly arrived at
Nauvoo. He immediately fell in with the element we have
already spoken of as anxious to set things right, at the head
of which was William Marks, president of the Nauvoo
Stake. By this time. Apostles Parley P. Pratt and George
A. Smith had also arrived. These brethren invited Presi-
dent Rigdon to meet with them, but for some reason, which
will presently appear, he kept aloof from all the general au-
thorities. He was not so averse, however, to meeting with
others, and that secretly.

August 4th was Sunday. At lo oldock-in the morning
the people as usual assembled at the grove to worship.
President Rigdon addressed them on the text, "For my

374 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

thoughts are not as your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways, saith the Lord." He related a "vision" which he had
received at Pittsburg on the 27th of Jvme, in which he was
told that a guardian was to be appointed to build up the
Church to Joseph the Martyr. No one could take the
Prophet's place; revelation was to continue. He said much,
also, about his own position of spokesman to Joseph, to
which he had been appointed by the mouth of the Lord. He
was the man, he declared, of whom ancient prophets had
sung, intimating that he was the guardian to be appointed.

At the conclusion of his discourse, he urged President
I^arks to call a special meeting for the following Tuesdiay;
but this, for some reason, Marks failed to do, though he was
in full sympathy with Sidney, and appointed Thursday, tlie
8th, instead.

But the Saints were suspicious, as they had need to be,
of Rigdon and his newly-found anxiety for their welfare.
They reflected that not long before Joseph's death, the
Prophet had refused to sustain him as a counselor. Some of
the brethren had pleaded mercy, among whom was Joseph's
own brother, Hyrum ; but he thought he had been merciful
long enough, and though the conference finally voted to re-
tain Sidney in the Presidency, President Smith protested
emphatically against carrying him any longer in that office.
And since that. Elder Rigdon had gone away from Nauvoo
contrary to the expressed direction of a revelation through
his leader. After this recreant conduct it was not to be ex-
pected that Rigdon would prove an acceptable candidate for
the place made vacant by their beloved Prophet.

By the 7th of August, six more of the Apostles had ar-
rived. There were now at Nauvoo Brigham Young, ^eber
C. Kimball. Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde. John
Taylor, Wilford Woodruff. Wjllard Richards. George A.
Smith, anci Ljmap,.J^igiht, Am^^^ Lynmn wJ^s ajsg in tlit

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 375

city. A council of the Apostles was called to meet at John
Taylor's, where the situation was discussed. Subsequently,
a body of men including the Twelve, the High Council, and
the High Priests, met, at which Presidait. Rigdon made a
statement of his claims substantially as we have given them
above. He laid much stress on his position of spokesman to
Joseph. When he got through. President Young arose and
said —

'T do not care who leads this Church, even though it
were Ann Lee ; but one thing I must know, and that is what
God says about it. I have the keys and the means of obtain-
ing the mind of God on the subject Joseph con-
ferred upon our heads all the keys and powers belonging to
the apostleship which he himself held before he was taken
away, and no man or set of men can get between Joseph and
the Twelve in this world or in the world to come. How
often has Joseph said to the Twelve, T have laid the founda-
tion and you must build thereon, for upon your shoulders the
kingdom rests.' "

The Mantle of Joseph.

When Thursday morning came, there was a great congrega-
tion assembled at the grove where the meeting was to be
held, for by this time attention was at a high pitch over the
question of a leader. President Young called the meeting to
order and presided. He invited Sidney Rigdon to speak.
And the would-be guardian occupied nearly the entire time
of the morning session, but not in his accustomed way. He
faltered like a timid man presenting something of which he
was ashamed. There was no force of a great conviction be-
hind his "revelation." The people, therefore, were very un-
easy, moving in their seats, impatient for him to get through.
At last he sat down, and President Young arose. He
spoke for only a few minutes, but long enough to answer

376 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

every query in the minds of the audience as to where the
authority to lead the Church lay. All those who were pres-
ent that have spoken on the subject have testified that a mar-
velous transformation took place in President Young. He
spoke in the voice of the martyred Prophet. Not only so ;
but he assumed the form and appearance of Joseph. So that
the thousands at that meeting believed for the moment that
President Smith actually stood before them.

"If Joseph had risen from the dead," says President
George Q. Cannon, who was in attendance, "and again
spoken in their hearing, the effect could not have been more
startling than it was to many present at that meeting. It was
the voice of Joseph himself ; and not only was it the voice of
Joseph which was heard, but it seemed in the eyes of the peo-
ple as if it were the very person of Joseph which stood be-
fore them. A more wonderful and miraculous event than
was wrought that day in the presence of that congregation,
we never heard of. The Lord gave His people a testimony
that left no room for doubt as to who was the man to lead
them. They both saw and heard with their natural eyes and
ears, and the words which were uttered came, acompanied by
the convincing power of God, to their hearts, and they were
filled with the Spirit and with great joy. There had been
gloom, and in some hearts, probably, doubt and uncertainty,
but now it was plain to all that here was the man upon whom
the Lord had bestowed the necessary authority to act in their
midst in Joseph's stead. On that occasion Brigham Young
seemed to be transformed, and a change such as that we
read of in the scriptures, as happening to the Prophet Elisha,
when Elijah was translated in his presence, seemed to have
taken place with him. The mantle of the Prophet had been
left for Brigham."

An appointment for another meeting was made for the
afternoon, and the vSaints dispersed satisfied in their minds

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 377

as to the question they had so often asked of late. Promptly
on the hour, the Saints returned to the grove. The priest-
hood were arranged in quorums in order to vote properly.
President Young first addressed the Saints. He called at-
tention to the importance of the occasion. It was necessary
for them to walk by faith now, and not by sight as they had
done when the Prophet Joseph was alive. The people could
not appoint a man at the head of the Church; God alone
could do this, and even then he would have to be ordained by
the Twelve. Joseph, before his death, had given the apos-
tles every key, power, and authority which he himself pos-
sessed, and had placed upon them the obligation of carrying
on the work of God in all the world.

Apostles Amasa Lyman, Parley P. Pratt, and Elder W.
W. Phelps each spoke, the latter at the request of Sidney
Rigdon, who declined to speak himself. They were all very
emphatic and positive in their support of the Twelve.

President Young rose again^^ this time to put the mo-
mentous question to the congregation. At the request of
Rigdon he put first the question as to whether the people
would support the Apostles. "Does the Church want, and is
it their only desire to sustain, the Twelve as the First Presi-
dency of this people? " A unanimous vote was the answer.
He called for a contrary vote, but not a hand went up. Of
course, there were some in the audience who were followers
of Sidney Rigdon, and who refrained from voting. But
these were few in number. Continuing, President Young
outlined the nolicy of the aoostles for the immediate future ;
which was to finish the temple and pursue the work cxaci.1'
as Joseph had intended it to be done.

This meeting settled the question of succession so far as
the Saints as a body were concerned. They had seen the un-
mistakable finger of God pointing towards the Apostles as
their leaders, and they had determined in their own minds to

378 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

give theni the same love and obedience that they had given
their martyred Prophet. But not so wnth Sidney Rigdon and
the few that follovv^ed him. He had been disappointed in his
ambition to lead the Church. He had not even secured a
respectable following. In appearance, he accepted the de-
cisions of the Saints as final ; in reality, he continued to hold
secret meetings with those whom his cunning ways could de-
ceive. He promised great things to them, ordaining some to
be prophets, priests, and kings. His conduct coming to the
notice of the Apostles, he was, after a proper hearing, sum-
marily excommunicated from the Church. It was then that
he came out in open rebellion ; for he denounced the leaders
of the Church, and exerted all his little remaining influence
with the Saints to induce them to do the same thing. Shortly
afterwards he left Nauvoo, lived for a time at Pittsburg,
from which place he subsequently moved to Alleghany coun-
ty, N. Y., where he died in 1876, leaving a number of scat-
tered disciples, in a church which he had organized.

The Lazv of Succession in the Presidency.
To any one at all familiar with the revelations given to the
Prophet Joseph and with the order of the priesthood, there
can be no doubt as to the legality of this eighth of August
action. The consideration of three points will make this per-
fectly clear.

In the first place ; the power of presidgjigy^QyjetJjie
whole Church rests with the~quorum of Apostles, wJienLlbc
quorum of the Fjrst Presidency is dissolved by the death of
the Presidgnt. "Of the Melchisedek Priesthood," says a
revelation T section 107) given through Joseph. March 28th,
1835, "three Presiding High Priests, chosen by the body, ap-
pointed and ordained to that office, and upheld by the con-
fidence, faith, and ])rayer of the Church, form a quorum of
Presitkncy of the Church, The Twelve traveling counselors

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 379

are called to be the Twelve apostles, or special witnesses of
the name of Christ in all the world ; thus differing from other
officers in the Church in the duties of their calling-. And
they form a qitoniin, equal in authority and pozver to the
three Presidents previously mentioned. The seventy also
are called to preach the gospel, and to be special witnesses
unto the Gentiles and in all the world. Thus differing from
other officers in the Church in the duties of their calling;
and. they form a quorum equal in authority to that of the
Twelve special zvifncsses or apostles just named. And every
decision made by either of these quorums, must be by the
unanimous voice of the same ; that is. every member in each
quorum must be agreed to its decisions, in order to make
their decisions of the same power or validity one with the
other. (A majority may form a quorum, when circum-
stances render it impossible to be otherwise) ."

According to this revelation, there are three quorums in
the Church of equal authority — The First Presidency, the
Quorum of Twelve Apostles, and the Seventy. Of course,
where all three quorums occupy their proper places, the Sev-
enty will work under the direction of the Apostles, and the
Apostles under the First Presidency. Now suppose the First
quorum named ceases to exist as such, which is the next in
order of presidency ? Very obviously the Quorum of Apos-
tles. This conclusion is absolutely inevitable. There can be
no other wrested from this law of the Church. And at the
time we are speaking of, this was precisely the condition.
Joseph was dead, William Law had been excommunicated,
and Sidney Rigdon alone remained. But there was no First
Presidency. Hence, the Apostles stood at the head of the
Church ; g,ndsjnce,Brigham Young was the President of the
quorum, to which office he had been appointed by a revela-
tion (section 124, verse i2y), it followed that he was in cf-

3?0 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

feet President of the Church ; he was the highest officer in the
organization.

In the second place, Joseph had bestowed upon the
quorum of Twelve all the keys of power and authority that
he himself held. This is clear from the testimonies of at least
three persons. The words of President Young we have al-
ready quoted. The language of President Woodruff is : "It
was before we started upon our mission to the East. He
[Joseph the Prophet] stood upon his feet some three hours.
The room was filled as with consuming fire, his face was as
clear as amber, and he was clothed upon by the power of
God. Pie laid before us our duty. He laid before us the ful-
ness of this great work of God ; and in his remarks to us he
said : T have had sealed upon my head every key, every
power, every principle of life and salvation that God has ever
given to any man who ever lived upon the face of the earth.
And these principles and this priesthood and power belong
to this great and last dispensation which the God of heaven
has set his hand to establish in the earth ! Now,' said he,
addressing the Twelve, T have sealed upon your heads every
key, every power, and every principle which the Lord has
scaled upon my head' 'The burden of this king-
dom now rests upon your shoulders ; you have got to bear it
off in all the world, and if you don't do it you will be
damned.' "'

Benjamin F. Johnson, who was the Prophet's private
secretary before his martyrdom, has recently furnished a
strong confirmation of what Presidents Young and Wood-
ruff testified to as having occurred at a meeting of the
Twelve referred to, and also what took place at the now fa-
mous 8th of August meeting. He says : "Do I know that
Bjigham Young was the true successor of Joseph Smith ? I
knew it before the Prophet was martyred, for Joseph had
made it known, J Wfi.s present when the Prophet gave his

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 381

charge to the Twelve Apostles, when in council after solemn
prayer, he rose up with the light of heaven shining in his
countenance, related his experiences with reference to the
beginning of this work, the responsibilities placed upon him,
the persecutions and hardships through which he had passed.
He declared that God had revealed all the truth necessary to
save mankind, had given unto him the keys of tlie kingdom,
and he had carried the weight and load thus far, and then
speaking directly to the T\velve he said: 'I now loll olY the
burden of this responsibility upon you ; I give unto yju all
the keys and powers bestowed upon me, and I say unto you,
that unless you round up your shoulders and bear off this
kingdom you will be damned.' The majesty and solemnity
of the occasion was something to be remembered. This
should have given us the key, but after the martyrdom of
the Prophet, and the question arose as to who was the man
who should be the leader, the matter was forgotten. A meet-
ing was called. Sidney Rigdon, the most mighty and elo-
quent man of his age, rose up and said : T will be the guard-
ian of the Church, holding it for Joseph.' I listened to Rig-
don and weighed his claim for a short time after he closed
his plea. Brigham Young arose, and when he spoke, I
jumped from my seat and turned around to face him, for the
voice was the voice of Joseph Smith. I looked at him and
there before me stood the personage of the Prophet Josepli
almost glorified in appearance. I knew then where the cloak
of the Prophet fell. I remembered then what he had said,
and I knew and still know that Brigham Young was u
Prophet of God — the true successor to Joseph Smith."

In the next place, these Apostles, with President Young
at their head, were sustained "by the confidence, faith, and
prayers of the Church." From the very first the law of "com-
mon consent" has been in vogue among the Saints. On ihe
day that the Church was organized, Joseph asked those few

.)82 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

persons then in Peter Whitmer's house at Fayette, whether
they would sustain himself and Oliver Cowdery as the first
and the second elder, respectively. Later when the qviornm
of Apostles was organized, the Prophet, as we have seen,
first asked the body of priesthood assembled on the occasion
whether they wished such an organization effected. And
later still, Sidney Rigdon had been sustained by the people as
first counselor to Joseph against the Prophet's expressed
wishes. No man in democratic "Mormonism" can hold a
public office without the approval of the people in the local-
ity where he presides. And on the contrary, this popular
consent forms one of the essentials to the holding of any po-
sition in the Church. This, the Apostles obtained at this
August meeting and on subsequent occasions ; and hence in
this respect also they were in full harmony with the law as
given in the revelation.

To the question, "Who ordained Brigham Young ?''there
can be but the one answer — Joseph Smith ordained him. The
Prophet had conferred upon the heads of the apostles, includ-
ing President Young, all the keys of power and authority
that he himself possessed, by virtue of which ordination and
bestowal of authority, Brigham Young occupied his. position
of President. "And it is something to his credit both for con-
sistency and strength of character that he always held that
any other ordination was unnecessary."

Brigham Young and the Twelve.

The Saints made no mistake in following the lead of Presi
dent Young and his fellow Apostles who were faithful, as
subsequent events abundantly proved. They were men of
large practical experience, whose knees had never quaked
under the heavy weight of responsibility which they bore —
men who had endured, uncomplainingly, the toil and sacri-
fice, the abuse and hardship, which the Saints had suffered ni

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 383

Missouri — men whom the people had many times proved to
be worthy of their love and confidence. They had been with
the Church from the beginning, and had not only taken an
active part in the ministry, but had never shirked a trust.
It is no marvel, therefore, that the Saints felt no concern for
the future under the leadership of such men.

Brigham Young was at this time the president of the
c^iorum of apostles, and upon him, mainly, rested the multi-
plied duties of leading and counseling the Saints which the
martyred Prophet had so long and faithfully performed.
This remarkable man, born of humble parentage in the dawn
of the nineteenth century, was himself a prophecy of what
that wonderful century would be. He spent his
early days with his father's family on a farm , in
,\[ftni'Qr^_ and in Hew YpJ^Ju whither they moved
when Brigham was about three years old. With
only eleven days of schooling, he grew to vigor-
ous manhood in the frontiers of the State, setting out for
himself at the age of sixteen as carpenter, joiner, painter,
and glazier, and marrying at twenty-three. Hearing, in
1830, of the Prophet Joseph and the Book of Mormon, he
began investigating "Mormonism" with the result that, two
years later, he embraced the new faith. Henceforth, his
life's work was to be among a different people and in differ-
ent conditions from those he had heretofore known. He was
called to a higher, broader, and nobler work than that which
his most hopeful ambitions could picture — a work which
should make him known wherever men could appreciate
mighty governing genius, and wherever their religious feel-
ings could be agitated by the name "Mormonism."

From this time on he was a conspicuous figure among
the Latter-day Saints. Not long after his conversion he vis-
ited the Prophet at Kirtland ; and being asked to pray one
evening by Joseph he spoke in tongues, which the Prophet

38-t OXE TIUXDRF.D YKARS OF MORMONISM.

pronounced to be the pure Adaniic language. Toseoli de-
ciared on this occasion that Brother Brigham- should yet pre-
side over the Church. He was one of the most devoted follow-
ers of Joseph. When, during those uncertain days of apostasy
at Kirtland, Joseph's former friends, those who had stood
high in the Church, turned against him, becoming his mur-
derous enemies, Brigham continued steadfast in his devotion
to his new-made friend, and amid the imprecations of apos-
tates, and direful threats, he defended the Prophet at the risk
of his own life. He was now an apostle. He preached much
both at home and in many of the eastern states.

When the cruel exterminating order was issued by the
infamous Boggs, and when Joseph and many of the leading
brethren were languishing in jails for alleged crimes, Apos-
tle Young was active in preparing the Saints to leave Mis-
souri. He it was who, under God, nerved the people to ac-
complish that melancholy exodus, who found in Dlinois a
haven of rest for their weary feet, and who saw to the many
details of the preparation, the journey, and the destination.
God was educating him for that greater exodus from Nau-
voo to the great West.

But a wide experience was not the only qualification
which Brigham Young possessed. This only united with a
great original genius. He was, at this time, in his forty-
fourth year, of manly and dignified bearing, not so portly as
he became later, and his face <:lean shaven. He was pre-
eminently a practical man; his large experience, combined
with his native genius, had made him so. He was far-
sighted, and able to turn the tide of circumstances. Btay£.
almost to rashnesSj he was yet cool and self-possessed in the
midst of danger. Of magnetic presence, he was a man to
whom others instinctively turned for guidance, and a man
whom everyone, even those not of his faith, at once felt to be
a great spirit. He was a man of unbounded resources, and

ONE HUNDKED YEARS OF MORMON ISM. 385

quick to act in an emergency. It is thought tliat had he been
at Nauvoo at the time of the martyrdom, that dark tragedy
would never have occurred; for, when the Prophet and his
party crossed the river to go West, Brigham would have sus-
tained him in the undertaking, and would not have permitted
the perfidy of Joseph's "friends" to persuade him to return.
Brigham was intensely earnest; his whole soul thrilled with
faith in his great work. This earnestness small men have
mistaken for fanaticism; it was largely this that made him
wdiat he was. No commonplace talents could have mastered
the situation in which the Saints found themselves at the
Prophet's death. And yet Brigham Young was a simple
man, of simple life and simple habits. He lived on a very
plain diet all his life ; regarded himself to the last as an un-
educated man ; and gave credit to the Lord for all that he had
accomplished in his long and useful career. With such a
man at the head of affairs it was not likely that the Church
would be broken up, but there was every indication, on the
contrary, that it would receive a new impetus, which actually
proved to be the case.

There was plenty of need for brave and earnest men.
The Church needed to be purified of hypocrites that were
lurking beneath its shadow; the commandment of the Lord
concerning the temple had to be fulfilled ; the Chruch at home
and abroad had to be strengthened. And all this in the
shade of a black cloud of persecution that threatened to burst
at any moment.

The work of purging the Church of questionable char-
acters was prosecuted with vigor. Among the first to be
dealt with were Sidney Rigdon and those whom he had in-
duced to believe his pretensions. At the October conference
William jMarks was dropped from his position as president
of the Nauvoo Stake, and John Smith sustained in his stead.
Later. WilJiani- Smith, one of the twelve apostles and also

3SG ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the patriarch of the Church, was excomnuinicated. A num-
ber of others of less prominence in tKe Church who had either
fallen into sin or who had allied themselves with those that
tried to lead the people astray, and would not repent, were
summarily cut ofif.

And the work of building up the various organizations
went on apace. Amasa M. Lvman, who had been previously
ordained an apostle, and who had been a faithful friend to
Joseph and a diligent worker in the cause, w'as admitted into
the quorum of Twelve. Those who held the ofifice of Seven-
ty w^ere, during 1844 and 1845, arranged into thirty-two
quorums, each with seven presidents according to the pat-
tern set by the Prophet Joseph. Bishops were appointed to
preside over the various wards of the city, with instructions
to choose deacons to watch in the various districts. Apos-
tles Wilford Woodruff and Parley P. Pratt were sentxuimis-
sionSj^the former to England to preside over that mission, the
latter to New York to take charge of matters pertaining to
emigration.

But the work on the temple occupied most attention. In
January, 1841, it will be remembered, the Lord gave a reve-
lation through the Prophet Joseph, in which he commanded
the Saints to build a temple wherein they were to perform
sacred ordinances, including ordinances for the dead. The
Lord added that if they did not build this sacred house they
and their dead should be rejected by Him. Up to the death
of the Prophet, only one story of the edifice had been erected.
Hence the Saints w^ere very anxious that the building should
be finished. So the apostles bent all their energies toward
completing it. They sent missionaries to the branches of the
Church in the eastern States, inviting all the able-bodied
men to come to Nauvoo to assist in building the temple. They
were to take with them their gold, iron, brass, and every-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 387

thing that might be needed in the structure ; and if they Uved
at a marketable distance from the city, they were to carry
their provisions. Those who could not come were to send
what money they could aflford. The Saints at Nauvoo were
required to devote every tenth day to work on the temple.
In May, 1845, the capstone was laid at six o'clock in the
morning with imposing ceremonies. In December of this
year and January of the next ( 1845 ^^"^^ 1846), a large num-
ber of the Saints received their endowments in the temple.
On the evening of April 30th, it was privately dedicated,
Elders Orson Hyde, Wilford Woodruff, Joseph and Phineas
H. Young, John M. Bernhisel, Joseph L, Heywood, and sev-
eral others being present. The prayer was offered by Elder
Joseph Young. On the next day the building was publicly
dedicated by Elder Hyde, Elders Woodruff, Babbit, and
Stratton being also present and taking part in the services.
Thus the Saints, by the most extraordinary exertions, amidst
continuous opposition, finished the House of the Lord, and
fulfilled the commandment given them through the Prophet
Joseph, though at the very time they were making prepara-
tions to leave it to be desecrated by enemies.

In the meantime, a proclamation was sent to the Saints
scattered abroad, giving them official notification of the death
of their leader, and urging them to press on in their duties,
for they were not without a head to guide them. A procla-
mation was also issued to the kings and rulers of the nations,
sounding the gospel note to them, and warning them of the
judgments to come upon the earth if the people repented not.
A little later, when the Saints were pressed more closely by
their enemies, a petition was drafted and sent to the President
of the United States and to the governors of all the states,
except Missouri and Illinois, asking redress for past wrongs
and protection from impending ones. It was a noble and

388 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

digTiified document, but was not responded to except by the
governor of Arkansas.

With these thino;s, came another series of disasters upon
the "Mormon" people, which ultimately compelled them to
seek a new asvlum of rest.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE LAST DAYS OF NAUVOO.

Before the Prophet's death, while he was in the greatest dan-
ger from his enemies, he had declared : "It is thought by
some that our enemies would be satisfied with my destruc-
tion ; but I tell you that as soon as they have shed my blood,
they will thirst for the blood of every man in whose heart
dwells a single spark of the fulness of the gospel. The op-
position of these men is moved by the spirit of the adversary
of all righteousness. It is not only to destroy me, but every
man and woman who dares believe the doctrines that God
hath inspired me to teach to this generation."

This great leader was scarcely in his grave before his
remarkable prediction began to be fulfilled with singular
literalness. For a moment after their diabolical deed at Car-
thaee, these enemies were appalled at what they had done ;
and hence for a short time they ceased active operations
against the "Mormons." They were inactive also for anoth-
er reason. Knowing that Joseph was the guiding genius of
"Mormonism," they hoped that in his death would be found
the destruction of his religion. They looked on, therefore,
for a time to await the result of their crime. But when they
saw that "Mormonism," not only retained its strength and
vigor, but that under the directing hand of Brigham Young
and the Apostles, it was actually assuming more formidable
proportions than ever, they renewed their efforts with in-
creased determination to accomplish their object. It may be
thought that we attribute too much cool deliberation to those
w^ho opposed the Saints at Nauvoo; but when it is remem-
bered that political jealousy, arising from the fact that the

3P0 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Saints held the balance of power in the county and in a gen-
eral state election, always found its complement in religious
animosity, and that the most prominent politicians of the
State were arrayed against the "Mormon" people, it will not
appear that we have exaggerated the opposition that drove
the Saints from Illinois.

Threats and Vilification Once More.

To gain their ends evil men resorted to their old tactics of
arousing again, by abuse and misrepresentation, the general
hatred of the people for the "]\rormons." It was commonly
reported that the Saints were thieves and counterfeiters, and
thajt they protected criminals of every character who came
among them. That these charges had no foundation in fact
is shown by the testimony of those non-"Mormons" who had
investigated them and also by the frank conduct of the city
council. Governor Ford said in his message to the legisla-
ture in 1845 that he "could not ascertain that there were a
greater proportion of thieves in that community than in anv
other of the same number of inhabitants, and that perhaps if
the city of Nauvoo were compared with St. Louis, or any
other western city, the proportion would not be so great."
The deputy sheriff of Hancock county declared that the
thieves which infested that part of Illinois were not "Mor-
mons" at all, that the stolen property was brought through
Nauvoo into Iowa, and that, though there were men in that
city who aided and abetted theft, they were neither "Mor-
mons" nor fellowshiped by "Mormons." The city council
challenged anyone to show a single instance where criminals
had been screened in Nauvoo, and at the same time invited
those who supposed that their property was secreted in the
city to institute a search for it. and proffered to aid in locat-
ing it. But no one ever accepted this invitation or took up
the challenge. In order to disabuse the public mind the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 391

Saints sent out men over all the country with abundant proof
of their entire innocence of the charge against them. But all
to no purpose ; the sentiment against them was too great.

"The naked truth," wrote Governor Ford to the Saints
at the time, "is, that most well-informed persons condemn in
the most unqualified manner the mode in which the Smiths
were put to death ; but nine out of ten of such accompany the
expression of their disapprobation by a manifestation of their
pleasure that they are dead. The disapproval is most un-
usually cold and without feeling. It is a disapproval which
appears to be called for, on their part, by decency, by a re-
spect for the laws and a horror of mobs, but does not flow
warm from the heart. The unfortunate victims of this as-
sassination were generally and thoroughly hated throughout
the country, and it is not reasonable to suppose that their
death has produced any reaction in the public mind resulting
in active sympathy; if you think so, you are mistaken. Most
that is said on the subject is merely from the teeth out; and
your people may depend on the fact, that public feeling is
now, at this time, as thoroughly against them as it has ever
been." He went on in this letter to confess his total inability
as Governor of the state to cope with the situation, though
he admitted that the "Mormons" had acted in a perfectly law-
ful and honorable manner.

In the autumn of 1845, ^n anti-"Mormon" meeting was
held near the Morley settlement, a few miles from Nauvoo,
for the purpose of devisinp^ means for the expulsion of the
Saints from the State. If we may believe Governor Ford,
arrangements had been actually made to have some of the
mob fire upon the house in which the meeting was going on,
but in such a way as not to hurt any one. This was done ;
and immediately the meeting broke up in confusion. Men
galloped wildly in all directions spreading the alarm that the
"Mormons" had begun their work of death among the citi-

392 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. ^

zens. Shortl}^ afterwards, an attack was made on the Mor-
ley settlement. Nineteen houses were burned to the .e^round
and the inhabitants — men, women, and children — were driv-
en out to seek shelter as best they might.

This act of depredation sounded the tocsin of war to the
mobocrats, and warned the Saints that there was no peace or
safety for them in the state of Illinois. Respectable jour-
nals like the Quincy Whig were loud in condemnation of
these and other outrages. But the sentiment of the great
masses was too strong against the "Mormons" for the dis-
approval of the better classes to be of much avail. From
now on, this evil sentiment was fierce and aggressive.

A mass meeting of the citizens was convened at Quincy,
where it was decided that, since the public sentiment was
against the Saints, the only thing for them to do was "to
obey the public will, and leave the state as speedily as possi-
ble." This bit of gratuitous counsel was accompanied by a
mild threat that, if the Saints refused to adopt this course, "a
last extreme" — force — would be resorted to. A committee
was appointed to confer with the Church authorities upon
the matter. The Twelve wrote a statement to this commit-
tee that, since the public feelings were aroused against their
people, and since it was their own desire to leave the State,
they would do so as early as the following spring; but that
they were not disposed to sacrifice their property. They
submitted that a committee consisting of both parties should
be appointed to transact business, that the Gentiles use their
influence with buyers to take the Saints' property at a reason-
able price ; and then use all lawful means to preserve the
peace. They denied the truth of the report that they intend-
ed to put in crops for the coming year. These things the
committee reported to the people of Quincy, who accepted
them, though the}- complained that the report was not so full
and decisive as it ought to be ! Before the close of the meet-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 393

ing", they adopted resolutions accepting the proposition of
the Church authorities, declaring it too late now to settle any
difficulties between the "Mormons" and the other people of
Hancock county, and promising, not only to prevent any fur-
ther outbreaks, but in no way "to hinder or obstruct them in
their efforts to sell."

Early in October a convention of the same class of peo-
ple, for the same purpose, was convoked to meet at Carthage.
There were representatives from nine counties. A commit-
tee on evidence was appointed, consisting of the bitterest
enemies of the Saints. Later this committee reported,
charging all manner of crimes to the "Mormons," and '"sup-
porting" these charges by a number of affidavits. The course
adopted here was identical with that followed by the Ouin-
cy people; they requested that the district judge hold no
court in that district, inasmuch as none could be held without
producing a collision between the "Mormons" and the anti-
"Mormons." Thus these counties sanctioned the acts of law-
lessness on the part of mobocrats in driving the Saints and
destroying their property.

But it is not to be supposed that nothing was done by
the Saints and their friends towards an amicable settlement
of these difficulties. They had few friends, indeed. Those
men of influence who had taken their part at the time when
they first entered Illinois, had done so, we have reason to
fear, partly because they saw that the Saints would likely be-
come a political power in the state, and that they could turn
the tide of that power in favor of themselves. But now that
public sentiment w^as so overwhelmingly against the "Mor-
mons," these political demigogues, otherwise honest enough,
determined to win popularity by persecuting the people they
had once befriended. Yet the Saints had some friends left —
at any rate, friends to law and order. Among these, the
sheriff of Hancock county, Mr. J. B. Bakenstos, w'as the

394 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

most active. He used his utmost endeavors to prevent these
outrages on the part of the mobs. He invited the people of
the countv to act as a posse comitatus to go against the mobs
that were constantly plundering the "Mormon" villages
wherever they found insufficient resistance. In these things
the Saints generally took no active part, because the sheriff
thought it best for them not to do so, though they kept them-
selves in readiness for any emergency. Once when the sher-
iff and his small band went against these marauders, he was
so stoutly resisted that his life was threatened. He there-
upon commanded Porter Rockwell, who was among his fol-
lowers, to shoot the leader ; and this Rockwell did, killing
him instantly. Later Mr. Backenstos was arrested and tried
for murder, but was acquitted. For these endeavors to
maintain order and peace, he was hated by the mobs. They
pillaged his house at Carthage, and his family were thrust
out of their home, with threats and violence. His resignation
was persistively demanded.

Removal of the Main Body.

In the meantime, the Saints were making active preparations
to leave for the great West. The authorities of the Church,
it will be remembered, had promised to leave as early in the
spring as they could, providing the non-"Mormons" would
use their influence in the matter of disposing of their prop-
erty ; and the Saints did use all their power to fulfil their part
of the agreement. Not so their enemies. Not only did they
not use their influence towards facilitating business transac-
tions, but used their influence against them., and actually re-
newed hostilities. There is too much reason to believe that
the mob were eager to possess the houses and the property of
the Saint<5, and knowing that, in a little while, the latter
would have to leave these whether they sold or not, they were

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 395

not at all anxious to buy or see others buying anything of
them.

Nauvoo, therefore, presented a busy scene during these
days. Committees were moving about disposing of property,
and the proceeds were immediately turned into wagons,
working animals, and provisions. Blacksmiths, carpenters,
joiners, wheelwrights were busy all the day long making
and repairing wagons. The sound of hammer and anvils
could be heard even far into the night. All work not direct-
ed towards preparations for a removal of the Saints, except
only that on the temple, was suspended. The Church au-
thorities that were at Nauvoo, with President Young at the
head, were active in instructing the Saints how to proceed,
and in directing everything.

Their enemies were impatient of the long delay, though
it was only February, 1846; and so, in this month, a com-
pany of five hundred Saints, including the Twelve and High|
Council, crossed the Mississippi, and were soon lost on the
plains of Iowa. From this time on. the Saints continued to
cross the river to join those already departed, until by the
Matter part of April the great body of the Church had lefl
Nauvoo. They who remained behind were mainly the poor.
the aged, and sick — those, in short, who were the least able
to help themselves. There were men that had endured nmch
hardship on account of their religion and had worn them-
selves out in its service ; there were women and children
whose husbands and fathers were pressing their way through
the dreary wilderness, suffering fatigue and hunger worse ^
than death, to fight for the land that had driven them forth : •
there were old men and women who remained behind only
because, on account of their poverty and sickness, they would
prove burdensome to the able and healthy. Surely, the
Saints were warranted by every principle of mercy and hu-
manity, notwithstanding the cruelties of the pa=t, in believing

396 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

that no mob could be collected so utterly destitute of humane
feelings as to plunder and drive these helpless people. But
they had sadly mistaken the feelings of their foe, for almost
as soon as these were left thus alone, a mob altogether
abandoned by feelings of kindness, justice, and mercy, came
upon them, and a series of the most cruel acts were perpe-
trated, of which a parallel can scarcely be found among sav-
age tribes.

The Unhappy Rounants.

The first indication of this barbarity was the kidnapping of
some of the brethren. One day in July while eight men were
harvesting wheat in a field about twelve miles from Nauvoo,
they were suddenly surrounded by an armed mob. Deprived
first of their weapons, these helpless men were severely beat-
en with hickory withes, and afterwards sent to Nauvoo, with
threats that, if they looked back, they would be killed. For
this act, two of the mobbers were arrested and detained.
Then followed proceedings worse than the first. Five men,
near Pontoosuc, a small town about eleven miles north-west
of Nauvoo, were pounced upon by a large force of armed
men. In vain they protested against such proceedings. Why
were they arrested? For the crime of being "Mormons."
By what authority ? By the authority of deadly weapons.
Compelled by their captors, they marched almost incessant-
ly, day and night, they knew not whither.urged on,when they
showed signs of weariness, by the points of bayonets. Twice
they were about to be shot, escaping death only because the
mob feared to be discovered, by the noise of their rifles, to the
"Mormons'' who they thought were in pursuit. Once they
were on the verge of being poisoned, escaping only because
the deadly drink had a suspicious effect on one of their num-
ber. Finally, after fourteen days' captivity they were per-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 397

niitted, after long appeals to the humanity of their captors,
to go free. Later fifteen of the mob were arrested.

This affair,, however, was not the only source of ditB-
culty to the Saints. Additional trouble grew out of politics.
Previously to their departure for the West the Apostles
warned the Saints that remained at Nauvoo against inter-
fering in elections, or against exercising their right of suf-
frage. But this warning the Saints disregarded ; and the re-
sult was what the Apostles had foreseen. The interest of
the Saints in the election gave fresh occasion for bitterness
on the part of their enemies, and failed to accomplish that
for which they hoped — the election of men that would sus-
tain the law; for these were beaten at the polls by several
hundred votes.

Still a well-defined pretext was needed by the anti-
"Mormons" to go up against Nauvoo. This they were not
long in finding. It happened that William Pickett, who had
personally excited the ill-will of one of the mobbers, from
whom he had taken a gun which had been stolen from him
on the occasion of the kidnapping. A "warrant" for his ar-
rest was immediately issued, and served upon him by one
John Carlin, a special constable of Carthage. Pickett asked
whether Carlin would guarantee his safety from violence at
the hands of his enemies if he went to Carthage, and being
informed that he would not, he refused to go with the officer.
Here, then, was pretext enough ; here was a clear case of re-
sisting an officer of the law.

Returning to Carthage, Carlin summoned upwards of
one thousand men to aid him in serving the process. There
were constables, sheriffs, majors, colonels, and preachers,
gathered from several counties, to assist an illegally appoint-
ed constable to serve an illegal warrant. But it answered
the purpose admirably. Prominent among this motly army
of "regulators" was Levi Williams, a Baptist preacher,

:}98 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

who had led the mob that murdered the Prophet and
Patriarch. They met at Green Plains, the home of
Williams, and resolved that if the "new citizens," mean-
ing those that had purchased property of the Saints at Nau-
voo, did not expel the "Mormons" from the State by the
tenth of September following, they would do it themselves
with their own hands.

The citizens of Nauvoo, seeing these movements of the
mob, held a meeting at which a report was given by a com-
mittee previously appointed to wait upon the mob. This
committee reported that the spirit which animated the anti-
"Mormons" was such as to preclude any hope that might be
entertained of an amicable settlement. Resolutions were
adopted denying strongly the right of these mobbers to inter-
fere with them in any way whatever. They asked the Gov-
ernor for assistance and protection, and in answer he sent
Major James R. Parker, of the state militia, with a force of
ten men, and authority to muster wdiat forces he could in the
neighborliood without expense to the state! jNIajor Parker,
when he arrived at Nauvoo and saw the situation, issued a
proclamation in which he declared that nothing was more
absurd than the idea that an armed force was necessary to
execute civil process in Nauvoo. "I hold myself in readi-
ness," he said, "to aid in executing warrants issued for the
apprehension of any person in this place, or in any other part
of the country, so soon as the armed force now assembled un-
der pretence of a constable's posse shall have been disband-
ed." He served notice upon "Constable" Carlin that he would
consider him and his forces as a mob. Carlin replied that he
would regard Parker and his men in the same lip^ht. And it
is worthy of remark, here, that the difficulty was therefore
no longer between the "Mormons" and anti-"Mormons," as
such, but rather between an armed band of men without the
merest shread of legal authority and the regularly constitut-

ONE HUNDRKD YEARS OF MORMONISM. 399

ed authority of the State. Parker wrote to Singleton, one of
the mob leaders, expressing a desire to settle matters without
shedding blood, but as Singleton saw nothing in Parker's
proposition pointing to the expulsion of the Saints, he re-
jected it, saying, "I say to you with all candor, they shall go.''
The pretext for which the mob forces were called — to en-
force legal nrocess — was no longer needed ; for William
Pickett was not mentioned.

Acting in concert with a committee of one hundred ap-
pointed at a meeting at Quincy, a committee consisting of
"Mormons" and non-" Mormons" at Nauvoo formulated
terms of settlement. The chief proposition was that the
Saints should leave the State within sixty days. But these
terms, though satisfactory to Singleton, who said that the
"Mormons" had done all that could reasonably be asked of
them, were altogether unsatisfactory to the mob. Singleton
and some of his assistants, therefore, resigned their com-
mand, whereupon Carlin appointed as commander one
Thomas S. Brockman, a Campbellite preacher. "Old Tom"
as he was familiarly called, after the mob had been regaled
with some "soul-stirring speeches," gave orders to march to
the city of Nauvoo.

It is at this point that we get a glimpse at the character
of the individual men that comprised the mob, and the mo-
tive that animated them in this "regulating" process. After
all, it was a small matter to them whether the Saints left the
State ; the point was, that they should leave in the manner
dictated by the mob ; and that, too, before they had time to
sell their lands and houses. A committee had been left at
Nauvoo by the now exiled Saints to dispose of their proper-
ty. But if this committee were given time to transact all
their business there would be nothing for the mob. The
mob were impatient, therefore, of any delay that kept them
from the entire possession of the city. They were waiting

400 ONE TtUNDRKD YEARS OK MORMONISM.

for shoes, and it niattert-d not if thty were dead men's. They
soug-ht for phinder and blood, and nothings else would satis-
fy them.

This mob-force was first seen by the citizens of Nauvoo
in the early part of the forenoon. The "new citizens" felt no
small degree of alarm, and many of them left the city for
other and safer quarters. Major Parker having organized
four companies of volunteers, they were ordered out to meet
the mob, which was now in a field at the head of Mulholland
street, not far from the house of Squire Wells. At the sug-
gestion of some gentlemen from Ouincy, who were by no
means in sympathy with the mob, but who nevertheless de-
sired to prevent any shedding of blood, a committee proceed-
ed to the anti-"Mormon" camp to see if there was any possi-
bility of a compromise. There was ; but the conditions were
so outrageous that they were indignantly rejected alike by
"Mormon" and non-"Mormon." About this time Parker left
the city promising to send recruits, which never came ; and
Major Clifford, who had been commissioned by Major Flood,
was in command of the forces at Nauvoo. These, however,
were but poorly equipped with arms and ammunition. They
had but two cannon made especially for the occasion out of
an old steamboat shaft, while their enemies had five good
pieces. They numbered only about four hundred, with not
enough guns and ammunition, while the mob numbered up-
wards of two thousand and had plenty of both. Neverthe-
less, nothing daunted, because they were in the right, they
prepared for a battle.

For three days there was firing on both sides. On the
third day the mob made a desperate effort to reach Mulhol-
land street, the principal one leading to Nauvoo, but were re-
sisted by an efTort equally desperate. The "Spartan Band"
under the command of Captain William Anderson saved the
day for Nauvoo. though at the sacrifice of the Captain's life

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 401

and that of his son, a youth of fifteen summers. The mob
forces were' renulsed, with many losses, thousfh the facts
were kept carefully concealed ; and puttin^^ their dead and
wounded into wagons, they returned to where they had en-
camped in the morning'.

The citizens of Nauvoo, seeing that the State authorities
would render them no assistance, despaired of defeating their
enemies in the end. The forces against them and their own
deficiencies in number and equipment were so great that it
was only a matter of time when they would all be put to
death and their property destroyed. And so they entered
into negotiations with the mob, with the following result:
The city was to surrender ; all arms were to be delivered to
the committee ; all parties to pledge themselves to protect
persons and property from violence ; the "Mormon" popula-
tion to leave the state as soon as they could ; and five brethren
to remain in the city to sell the property. These terms were
accepted by the citizens.

And so the mob forces marched into the city ; but they
flagrantly violated the conditions which they had themselves
dictated. Contrary to the terms of the treaty, Brockman is-
sued an order expelling from the state, not only "Mormons"
that still remained, but also all those who had borne arms in
defense of the city and all who were in any way connected
with the "Mormons." This order he straightway proceeded
to execute. The mob yelled like savages at their victorv
over the Saints. They proceeded to occupy the temple, dese-
crating its holy precincts with vile jests, blasphemous lan-
guage, and horrid oaths. A preacher, ascending the top-
most tower, proclaimed aloud : "Peace to the inhabitants of
the earth, now the A'^lormons are driven out!" Members of
this plundering gang ran everywhither ransacking houses,
taking whatever they could lay their hands upon in the
shape of fire-arms. They searched the wagons of the Saints

26

402 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

that stood on the banks of the river ready to be ferried
across, unpacking the contents, which they scattered over
the ground. The sick were treated with cruelty, and even
those were brutally disturbed, who were burying their dead.
At a mock court held in the temple, some of the Saints were
tried and sentenced to death ; others were blasphemously
baptized in the river by mobbers. These wretches plun-
dered property wherever they found it, without inauiring
whether it belonged to the "Mormons" or not.

Meanwhile, the Saints hurriedly collected what property
they could, and moved across the Mississippi to the Iowa
side. They left behind them their homes and most of their
property. They were not granted sufficient time to secure
food for more than a few days. And there they lay on the
west banks of the Mississippi, the aged and the youthful, the
sick and the dying, without food or shelter, now scorching
under the rays of a September sun, now shivering in the chill
of a September night.

In this way was Nauvoo the Beautiful compulsorily
evacuated by the thrifty and peaceful inhabitants that had
brought into view its grandeur and loveliness. From a dis-
ease-engendering marsh, in the midst of a country "marred,
without being improved, by the careless hands of sordid, vag-
abond, and idle settlers," it had grown, under the hands of
an industrious and enterprising people, into the metropolis
and commercial center of the great state of Illinois. It had
always been filled with a lively, bustling people, awaking the
echoes with the sounds of industry. But in a day had all this
beauty and glory been deserted. Not a sound now disturbed
the stillness ; the din of business was no longer jto be heard in
its streets ; no dog barked an alarm to the wayfarer, or
stranger paced its silent walks to ask him why he was there.
The grain lay rotting in the adjacent fields, and the railings
that enclosed them had been rudely torn from their places to

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 403

furnish fuel to a savage barbacue. It was indeed a City of
the Dead.

Nauvoo never ralUed from the blov^ it now received.
Later the so called new citizens returned. Others came from
distant parts of the country tO' occupy land and houses which
they could buy so cheap ; and later still a French communistic
society purchased much of the property there, including the
temple grounds, and flourished in a way until 1859 when the
society broke up. The city now contains about seventeen
hundred inhabitants, principally Germans, who live by the
occupation of grape-growing. The temple was destroyed in
1848, and not a stone remains today to show where this sa-
cred and beautiful edifice once stood.

PART FOURTH.
Children of the Wilderness.

CHAPTER I.

WESTWARD ho!

The Light of the Setting Sun.

It is generally supposed that the idea of moving the whole
body of "Mormons" to the heart of the great West originat-
ed with President Brigham Young. But this is a mistake.
It can be shown beyond question that had the Prophet Jo-
seph lived a few years longer he would himself have conduct-
ed the movement, irrespective of the difficulties that subse-
quently arose at Nauvoo and the neighborhood. Nor is it de-
tracting anything from the greatness of President Young,
when we ascribe to Joseph the credit of having first con-
ceived the idea of the exodus. 'The labor and genius in-
volved in the actual removal of the "Mormon" people from
Illinois to the Rocky mountains and of their subsenuent set-
tlement in Utah will ever be held a sufficient justification for
our calling Brigham Young one of the first leaders of men
and the greatest colonizer of modern times./ The laurel-
wreath of victory is securely fastened upon his brow.

From the earliest days of the Church, "Westward!"
seems to have been its keynote. The idea, it appears, that the
West, not the East, was destined to be the abiding-place of
the Church during its probationary period, was e^rasoed very
early by some of the leading minds of "Mormonism." The
first home of the Saints, for instance, was on the borders of

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 4U5

Lake Seneca, iu western New York. Thence the Chvirch
was removed, by special command of God, to northern Ohio.
But in the very circumstances connected with the removal
there was a sup-p^estion that Kirtland and vicinity was to be
merely a temporary home; for not long afterwards Inde-
pendence, Missouri, was designated by revelation as the
gathering place of the Saints. At first, as we have already
seen, it was apparently the intention to move the great ma-
jority of the Church, if not indeed, the whole body of "Mor-
mons," to Jackson county. But in 1833 the opposition which
the old settlers brought to bear upon the new religion some-
what modified this p-eneral purpose ; and so Kirtland became,
for the time-being, the place of gathering. Afterwards,
however, when it became necessary for the Saints to abandon
Ohio, the counties north of Tackson, in Missouri, were chos-
en for settlement; and thither went almost the entire body
of Saints. Here probably they would have remained had
not persecution ultimately driven them from the State.
There are strono- indications pointing to the belief in certain
leading men in the Church at the time, that Illinois was to
be only a temporary home for "Mormonism," and that when
a removal occurred it would not be Zionward, either. Nor
was it a vague, ill-defined feeling. It was doubtless dim
enough at first; but gradually in leading minds it became a
setttled conviction. "Mormonism" had problems to solve
which would be insoluble in the crowded East. It required
isolation, at least for a time, to develop its latent powers and
to show the world that it is a religion of force and vitality,
and not a dead faith.

That this view of the situation is correct can be shown
by predictions uttered at the time and by positive actions of
the Prophet Joseph looking toward the settlement of the
West by the Church.

First as to the predictions. Lorenzo D. Young slates in

406 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

his journal that while he was at Kirtland, in 1831, lying sick
of a deadly malady, he was administered to by Hyrum
Smith, who pronounced the remarkable blessing upon his
head that he should recover and go with the Saints to the
Rocky mountains and there help to perform a great work.
This prophecy made a deep impression on his mind, as it did
also upon the mind of Hyrum, who seemed to be amazed at
the strange words he had uttered. The sick man, it may be
added, completely recovered, and subsequently, in fulfilment
of the prediction, moved to Utah with the body of Saints,
where he lived to a great age. Years after this, while Joseph
the Prophet, Sidney Rigdon, and Heber C. Kimball were ap-
proaching the town of Commerce, afterward Nauvoo, and
President Rigdon, weary of the unrest that had been his lot
since joining the Church, was indulging fond hopes concern-
ing the apparent permanency of this new location, when Fl-
der Kimball rather bruskly interrupted : "A very pretty
place, indeed, but not a long-abiding home for the Saints!"
The reputation of Heber C. Kimball as a prophet will justify
us in saying that this was not a thoughtless remark, but a
word of prophecy uttered under the influence of the Holy
Spirit. Certainly, it is not very definite as to where the
"Mormon" people would go from there ; but two things are
clear in the premises ; namely, that the Saints were to leave
Nauvoo, and that they would not be likely to go any farther
East. Lastly, Joseph himself predicted in the clearest possi-
ble terms the westward migration of his people. Writing
under date of August 6th, 1842, the Prophet says : "I had a
conversation with a number of brethren, in the shade of the
building [the Masonic Hall, at Montrose, to which place Jo-
seph upon invitation had gone to "witness the installation of
the officers of the Rising Sun Lodge"] on the subject of our
persecutions in Missouri, and the constant annoyance which
has followed us since we were driven from that state. I

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 40'?

prophesied that the Saints would continue to suffer much
affliction and would be driven to the Rocky mountains, many
would apostatize, others would be put to death by our per-
secutors, or lose their lives in consequence of exposure to
disease, and some of you will live to go and assist in making-
settlements and build cities, and see the Saints become a
mighty people in the midst of the Rocky mountains." An-
son Call, who was present when this prediction was uttered,
declares that Joseph thereupon entered into a detailed de-
scription of the place to which the Saints should go, men-
tioning in particular "the snow-capped mountains" and "the
streams running down from the gorges." He spoke also of
the scenes through which the Saints should pass while on
their way, of the apostasy that should occur, and of the dead
that should lie between the beginning and the end of the
journey. Speaking in his journal of a meeting held at the
Assembly room in Nauvoo, the Prophet says, "I prophesied
that within five years we should be out of the power of our
old enemies, whether they were apostates or of the world,
and told the brethren to record it, and when it comes to pass
they need not say they had forgotten the saying." It is per-
fectly clear from these predictions that the idea of a home in
the West for the Saints was not a vague, uncertain thmg in
the minds, at least, of the leaders of the Church before the
death of Joseph,

But the Prophet actually took steps to plan an exodus
of his people from Nauvoo to the Rocky mountains. In the
first place, he made preparations for a select company of men
to scout the whole country known as Oregon and California.
"I instructed the Apostles," he says, referring to a meeting
held on the 20th of February, 1844, "to send out a delegation
and investigate the locations of California and Oregon, and
hunt out a good location where we can remove to after the
Temple is completed, and where we can build a city in a day

408 ONt HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

and have a government of our own — get up into the moun-
tains where the devil cannot dig us out, and Hve in a healthy
climate where we can live as long as we have a mind to."
Accordingly, at a meeting of the Twelve held the following
evening several brethren volunteered to go West for the pur-
pose specified. In all, about twenty-five persons volunteered
or were asked to form this expedition, either at this or sub-
sequent meetings. Among these were Daniel Spencer, Ro-
sea Stout, George D. Watt, and Samuel W. Richards. At
one of the meetings held for the purpose of considering this
subject, Joseph said that every man would require five-hun-
dred dollars, a good horse and mule, with the necessary arms
and provisions. On the 26th of the following March he ad-
dressed a memorial to Congress, asking for authority to
raise a company of one hundred thousand men : "to open the
vast regions of the unpeopled West and South to our en-
lightened and enterprising yeomanry."

The duty of carrying this memorial to Washington and
of endeavoring to have it presented to Congress was given to
Orson Hyde, who was subsequently joined by Orson Pratt.
These two brethren drafted a bill to Congress, in which oc-
curs this remarkable passage: "In case of removal to that
country, Nauvoo is the place of general rendezvous. Our
course from thence would be westward through Iowa, bear-
ing a little to the north till we come to the Missouri river,
leaving the state of Missouri on the left, thence up the North
Fork of the Platte into the moijth of Sweetwater river, in
the longitude of 107 degrees, 45 minutes west, and thence up
Sweetwater river to the south pass of the Rocky mountains ;
and from said south pass in latitude 42 degrees, 28 minutes
north to the Umpqua and Kalamet valleys in Oregon border-
ing on California is about 600 miles, making the distance
from Nauvoo to the best portion of Oregon, 1,700 miles."
On the 23rd of June, 1844, four days before his martyrdom,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 409

the Prophet, in company with Hyrum, O. P. Rockwell, and
Dr. Richards, crossed the Mississippi to Montrose, with the
intention of starting- for "the great basin in the Rocky
mountains," as soon as he could procure the necessary outfit;
but the treachery of some of his pretended friends accom-
plished the defeat of this object, and he returned to his doom
at Carthage.

In view of all these facts there cannot be any doubt, not
only that Joseph conceived the idea of moving the body of
the Church to the Rocky mountains, but that he fully ma-
tured his plans for the removal, and would actually have con-
ducted the exodus in person had not his martyrdom
prevented.

From Nauvoo to Council Bluffs.

Having- seen where the idea of the westward migration of
the Saints originated, we have now to give the details of that
toilsome journey, from the banks of the Mississippi to those
of the Missouri, about four hundred miles distant.

Upon leaving Nauvoo, the companies first encamped on
the river directly opposite the city, but shortly afterwards
they moved northwest nine miles to Sugar Creek, where they
were joined on the 15th by President Young and other mem-
bers of the Twelve. The "Camps of Israel," as the main
body of "Mormons" was called, were constantly being in-
creased by new-comers till, by the end of the month, there
were four hundred wagons at the place of rendezvous.
Clearing away the snow, which had lately fallen, these men
and women, most of whom were accustomed to the refine-
ments of an educated home, pitched their tents on the frozen
ground, prepared to make the best of their melancholy situa-
tion, and awaiting the signal for marching forward.

Here it was that something occurred, which, when it
transpired as it must have done to some extent, was likely to

410 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

occasion no little concern respecting the outcome of the
whole westward movement. A day or two after his arrival in
camp, President Young took such of the Twelve as were ac-
cessible into a secluded nook not far from the place of gen-
eral encampment, and gravely laid before them the contents
of a letter, with accompanying documents, which he had just
received from Elder Samuel Brannan. This man Brannan,
who had been editor of Tlic Prophet in New York, and who,
it seems, was a man more eager for the things of this world
than for those of the next, had been instructed to convey, by
water, a company of Saints to California. But, before leav-
ing, he had apparently comnmnicated with a sercet company
of political sharpers at Washington — including, it was stated,
besides a certain A. G. Benson and ex-Postmaster Amos
Kendall, the President of the United States — concerning the
movement of the "Mormon" people to the West. One of
these documents referred to was a compact awaiting the sig-
natures of the "Alormon'' leaders, in which they were re-
quired to "transfer to A. G. Benson and Company, and to
their heirs and assigns, the odd numbers of all the lands and
town lots they might acquire in the country where they set-
tled," in return for which the company agreed to see that
they were unmolested on their journey ; for if the leaders of
the migration refused to sign the compact, President Polk,
it was affirmed, would prevent the movement on the grounds
that the "Mormons" were about to join the British or Mexi-
can side in the controversy then being waged over the west-
ern territory. That the President of the United States was a
"silent partner" in this attempted "land grab," is extremely
doubtful. The probability is, that they were making use of
the President's name merely to give color to their threat
about United States troops. At all events, such is the sub-
stance of what was laid before the Apostles. The details of
this interesting meeting are probably lost to history ; but not

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 411"

the result. "Our trust is in God," exclaimed President
Young; "we look to him for protection!" And the council
broke up without even deigning to answer Elder Brannan's
letter.

On the first day of March, the word of command was
given for " the whole Camp of Israel" to begin its westward
pilgrimage. President Young, mounting his wagon, spoke
to the people resoecting their duties under the new situation.
"We will have no laws we cannot keep," he said, "but we
will have order in the camp. If any want to live in peace
when we have left this place, they must toe the mark!" So
these hosts of "Mormon" exiles began anew their long jour-
ney over the prairies of Iowa. Permission, however, had
first been obtained from the Governor to pass through his
territory, and, if need were, to make temporary settlements
there. This first day they traveled five miles, resting again
on Sugar Creek.

The organization of the "Camp" was not so complete
and effective at first as it became afterwards. A partial or-
ganization was effected at Sugar Creek, and subsequently
this was improved ; but constant additions to the company,
the separation which occurred soon after the first day, and
bad roads and consequent accidents, prevented the complete
organization of the Saints. At first, the Apostles present took
charge of divisions, with captains under them. But when,
on the 27th of this month of March, Shoal creek was reached,
the "Camp" was thoroughly organized. First of all, Presi-
dent Young was elected president over the whole Camp of
Israel. Then the company was divided into two parts, with
Brigham and Heber C. Kimball in general charge. Each of
these, again, was divided into hundreds, fifties, and tens,
with captains. Besides, there were commissaries, contract-
ing and distributing, with a commissary-general. William
Clayton was appointed general clerk, for there was a clerk

412 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

for each fifty ; and Willard Richards "standmg historian for
the Church and the camp." Thus, the companies could not
only be better controlled, but better provided for; and both
officers and people had learned alike the necessity of obedi-
ence and strict attention to orders. "At a council meeting
subsequent to this," writes President George Q. Cannon,
"President Young told those present that they were taking a
course that would result in salvation, not only to that camp,
but to the Saints who were still behind."

The immediate destination seems to have been Council
Bluffs, on the Missouri river, about four hundred miles dis-
tant. This point, the main body reached in the middle of
June, so that they were in all three months and a half on the
way. But by the time the first company reached the Mis-
souri almost the entire distance back to Nauvoo was covered
by a train of wagons, so greatly had the "Camp" been scat-
tered and so large was the stream o^ emigration from the
city. There had been other reasons, however, for the slow
progress made by even the first group of Saints.

One of these was that many of the people had not suit-
able outfits and the necessary provisions. The required out-
fit for a family of five was one wagon, three yoke of cattle,
or three teams, two cows, two beef cattle, three sheep, one
thousand pounds of flour, twenty-four pounds of sugar, a
tent and bedding, seeds, farming-tools, and a rifle ; all of
which were estimated as being worth two hundred and fifty
dollars. But not a few were without this essential prepara-
tion for the trip. Colonel Kane says that, in addition to the
wagons, there was "a large number of nondescript turnouts,
the motley makeshifts of poverty ; from the unsuitable heavy
cart that lumbered on mysteriously, with its sick driver un-
der its counterpane cover, to the crazy two-wheeled trundle,
such as our own poor employ in the conveyance of their slop
barrels, this pulled along, it may be, by a little dry-dugged

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 413

heifer, and ri,e:g"ed up only to dra^sf some such li.s^ht weight as
a baby, a sack of meal or a pack of clothes and beddingf."
And many were as badly ofif for provisions. Before the ex-
piration of the three weeks spent at Sugar Creek, "eight
hundred men reported themselves in camp without a fort-
night's provisions, notwithstanding the strict injunctions of
President Young not to undertake the journey improperly
provided as to food and clothing-.

But even if all the Saints had had the necessary outfit,
there would still be found hindrances to the progress of the
companies in the difficulty which they had in providing food
for their horses and cattle. Tim.e and again, during the ear-
lier portions of their march, they were compelled to send to
the settlements for grain. Oftentimes, however, the wagons
returned empty, in which event the animals would have to
live off the bark and branches of the trees. In consequence,
they became very thin, so thin, in fact, that they could
scarcely drag along the vehicles to which they were hitched.
To make things worse, the roads were bad most of the way.
Often they were quite impassable on account of the rain and
the spring freshets. Wagons were therefore always break-
ing down, and this meant a delay for repairs. Sometimes
they became stuck in the mud, which necessitated a doubling
up of teams. The company was considered as having made
remarkable progress if it had gone fifteen miles in a day ; for
oftener it made only five or six, and sometimes only a single
mile. And so it was from day to day, until the grass ap-
peared and the bad weather ceased.

The hardships endured by those who participated in this
singular movement of a people, have often been described —
at least, in part ; for the full story no mortal tongue will ever
tell.

Personal inconvenience, certainly, was to be expected in
the removal of a small number of men and women and chil-

414 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

dren under any circumstances, much more so in the moving
of an immense multitude under the conditions surrounding
the Saints at this time. Most of them had been used to com-
fortable homes and pleasant environments, many to the re-
finements and luxuries of life. To be compelled, therefore,
to ride in a lumbering- wagon or cart all day, or, it may be,
to walk by its side, mile after mile, in order to lighten the
load or to urge the jaded team along over muddy or frozen
roads ; to sleep in tents or even in the open air in the most
disagreeable season of the year, when, perhaps, the clothes
worn during the day in a heavy and continuous rain would be
frozen stiff next morning; and to do this day after day for
months, and then with no prospect that there would be a ma-
terial change for the better, — this was not to be regarded as
the most pleasant thing for the contemplation of those who
were taking part in it. The romance of the situation would
not certainly be enhanced by these work-a-day details.

Had this been all, however, those days would not so fre-
quently be referred to as ones which tried the soul's mettle.
They were times of extreme distress, sorrow, and suft'ering,
not to speak of hardship and privation. These began as soon
as the people had left their homes at Nauvoo. While they
were encamped on Sugar Creek they got a foretaste of what
to expect. The cold was intense, the thermometer having
dropped to twenty degrees below zero. And under these cir-
cumstances nine wives experienced the feelings of mingled
agony and joy of child-birth. We have no record of any one
having suffered for actual want of food ; but long before the
first companies reached their immediate destination, thev
were compelled to partake of it very sparingly. But there
was in store for some families something far worse than this
hardship in which all shared alike. Josenh the Prophet,
when, in vision, he saw the place to which the Saints were
to be driven by ihcir enemies, had exclaimed, "Oh the dead

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 416

that will lie between here and there!" And so it was. Many
were called upon to lament the death of a father or mother,
a husband or wife, a brother or sister. Mrs. Orson Spencer,
whose husband was then on a mission to England, was one
of the earliest victims; and her motherless children were
taken care of by those who could little afiford the addition
thus made to their household. And others suffered likewise,
especially in the later companies. We shall see presently that
death was so common after the Saints had temporarily lo-
cated themselves that the customary burial services were
dispensed with.

But, as already remarked, it must not be supposed that
hardship and suffering were the only lot of these homeless
wanderers. There was a cheerfulness on every face that the
people in the setttlements through which they passed in the
earlier parts of their journey, were unable to comprehend.
Of an evening when the weather had not proved unusuallv
disagreeable during the day, and while they were waiting
around their camp fires for the trumpet to sound the note for
prayers and bed time, jokes, conundrums, and stories would
bring on smiles and laughter. Sometimes the cares of the
day would be laid aside in the Virginia reel or the customary
"round dance." For these "Mormon" pilgrims had not for-
gotten to bring with them their musical instruments, not-
withstanding their more pressing need of life's necessaries,
the more material things. Pitt's brass band frequently dis-
coursed sweet or martial strains along the way, and even the
small towns through which they passed were eager to invite
this company of musicians to play for them. Moreover, the
songs of Zion, sometimes composed for the occasion, dis-
pelled the gloom that would otherwise have settled down on
the camp. Two of these written by the young poet Eliza R.
Snow Smith, may be specially referred to as illustrating the

416 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

extreme buoyancy of soul possessed by these outcast "Mor-
mons."

Althougli in woods and tents we dwell,

Shout ! shout ! O Camp of Israel :

No "Christian" mobs on earth can bind

Our thoughts, or steal our peace of mind,
she sings in the first month of the journey when the difficult-
ies w' ere greatest. And a little later she cries :

Lo, a mighty host of Jacob,

Tented on the western shore

Of the noble Mississippi,

They had crossed to cross no more.

At the last day-dawn of winter,

Bound with frost and wrapped in snow ;

Hark ! the cry is "Onward, onward !

Camp of Israel, rise and go."
Such was the general spirit of cheerfulness that pre-
vailed in the camps of the Saints during this part of their
journey westward — a condition which will amply justify the
title of the present chapter. Amid all their distresses, they
were buoyed up by the peace which passeth understanding
and which man cannot give nor take away.

From March, when the first companies left Sugar
Creek, till late in the fall, trains of "Mormon" emigrants
might be seen on the road to the Missouri. During the earli-
er months, of course, the greatest number were on the move.
Then, the line of wagons was almost continuous between the
two rivers. Amos Fielding, w'ho returned to Nauvoo in the
latter part of June, counted nine hundred wagons in three
days. And President Young, while on his way to Mount
Pisgah in the following month counted eight hundred be-
tween that point and Council Bluffs. But there were com-
panies on the road to the West till very late in the Autumn.
Of one of these we may speak more particularly, — the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 417

unfortunate "remnants" left at Nauvoo till a convenient time
could be found at which to take them west. They numbered
between six and seven hundred souls in all. Of their cruel
expulsion from their beautiful city we have already spoken.
Their condition on the Iowa bank of the Mississippi was
truly pitiable, in direct consequence of the inhumanity they
had suffered at the hands of so-called Christian men. Thom-
as L. Kane had just crossed the river after having spent a
few hours in the now deserted "Mormon" town, when sud-
denly he came upon "a crowd of several hundred human
creatures" among- "the docks and rushes, sheltered only by
the darkness, without roof between them and the sky." But
we will let him tell the whole story, for he was an eye-wit-
ness to what he relates : —

"Passing these on my way to the light, I found it came
from a tallow candle, in a paper funnel shade, such as is used
by street vendors of apples and peanuts, and which, flaring
and guttering away in the bleak air off the water, shone
flickeringly on the emanciated features of a man in the last
stage of a bilious, remittent fever. They had done their best
for him. Over his head was something like a tent, made of
a sheet or two, and he rested on a but partially ripped open
old straw mattress, with a hair sofa cushion under his head
for a pillow. His gaping jaw and glazing eye told how short
a time he would monopolize these luxuries ; though a seem-
ingly bewildered and excited person, who might have been
his wife, seemed to find hope in occasionally forcing him to
swallow awkwardly-measured sips of the tepid river water,
from a burned and battered bitter-smelling tin coffee-pot.
Those who knew better had furnished the apothecary he
needed. A toothless old bald-head, whose manner had the
repulsive dullness of a man familiar with death scenes — he.
so long as I remained, mumbled in the patient's ear a monot-
onous and melancholy prayer, between the pauses of which I
27

418 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

heard the hiccup and sobbing of two little girls, who were
sitting upon a piece of driftwood outside.

"Dreadful, indeed, was the suffering of these forsaken
beings; bowed and cramped by cold and sunburn, alternat-
ing as each weary day and night dragged on, they were, al-
most all of them, the crippled victims of disease. They
were there because they had no homes, nor hospitals, nor
poorhouse, nor friends to offer them any. They could not
satisfy the feeble cravings of their sick ; they had not bread
to quiet the fractious hunger-cries of their children. Moth-
ers and babes, daughters and grandparents, all of them alike,
were bivouacked in tatters, wanting even covering to comfort
tho\- whom the sick shiver of fever was searching to the
marrow.

"These were Mormons, famishing in Lee county, Iowa,
in the fourth week of the month of September, in the year of

our Lord 1846 And those who had stopped their

plows, who had silenced their hammers, their axes, their
shuttles and their work-shop v. heels ; those who had put out
their fires, who had eaten their food, spoiled their orchards,
and trampled under foot their thousands of acres of un-
harvested bread ; these were the keepers of their dwellings,
the carousers of their Temple, whose drunken riot insulted
the ears of their dying."

Elder Bullock, who was a member of this "Poor Camp,"
thus describes a night spent under these circumstances : "On
Monday, September 23. while in my wagon on the slough
opposite Nauvoo, a most tremendous thunderstorm passed
over, which drenched everything we had. Not a dry thing
left us — the bed a pool of water, my wife and mother-in-law
lading it out by basinfuls, and I in a burning fever and in-
sensible, with all my hair shoorn off to cure me of my dis-
ease. A poor woman stood among the bushes, wrapping her
cloak around her three little orphan children, to shield them

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 419

from the storm as well as she could." Here it was, and un-
der these heart-rending conditions, that a countless host of
quails dropped into camp, and were so tame that they could
easily be caught by the hands of these famishing people — a
circumstance which the Saints have attributed to God's over-
ruling Providence.

Wagons were sent back by the other companies for
these suffering and helpless "remnants." But their journey
to Council Bluffs was a long and toilsome one ; they endured
more hardship than attended any company which had pre-
ceded them, on account of the bad physical condition in
which they started out. It was, besides, very late in the fall
when they reached the shelter of the main camps, and the
cold weather and autumn rains had set in.

CHAPTER II.

WAYSIDE STATIONS.

The spectacle of this immense body of "Mormons" — a verit-
able wandering nation — pausing on its long pilgrimage to
build temporary cities on the wild prairie land of western
Iowa among savages and wolves, is so altogether unique
and striking as to tempt one, out of sheer curiosity, to pass in
review the life and conduct of civilized men and women un-
der such a situation.

When, on the 24.th oi, April, ihe advance company reached a
point just beyond the Chariton, they determined to make a
settlement, naming the place Garden Grove^ During the
seventeen days that they remained there — for they pushed on
again to another situation further west on the nth of May —
a large and flourishing town sprang up like magic from the
naked prairie. On the second day of their sojourn, three
hundred and fifty-nine men, in response to a request by
President Young, reported for labor. Accordingly, one hun-
dred of them were directed to cut down and trim trees for
logs and rails, ten to build fences, forty-eight to build houses,
twelve to dig wells, ten to build bridges, and the rest to clear
the land, plow the ground, and plant seed. In a few days,
therefore, several hundred acres of land had been inclosed,
crops put in, and houses erected. Then the main company
pressed on their way, leaving only a few persons to guard
their new possessions.

Before his departure from Garden Grove, however.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 4.21

President Young- appointed Elders Samuel Bent, Aaron
Jolms.Q,P, and David Fullmer to preside,,with instructions to
divi(i£.lli€ land among the needy Saints now on their way
from Nauvoo, but not to permit any one to have more than
he could till; to preach tithing- so that the sick and other-
wise helpless might be properly cared for, and, finally, to see
that there was no unnecessary waste in harvesting and
housing the crops.

Mount Pisgah.

While the vanguard of Zion's Camp were thus employed,
AnostleJParley P. Pratt, and a few others were instructed to
go farther west along the intended route, for the purpose of
choosing another situation for a settlement. "Riding out
about three or four miles through beautiful prairies," says
Parley's Autobiography, after they had gone thirty-odd .
.-tQiles from Garden Grove, "I came suddenly to some round
and sloping hills, grassy and crowned with beautiful groves
of timber; while alternate open groves and forests seemed
blended in all the beauty and harmony of an English park.
While beneath and beyond, on the West, rolled a main
branch of the Grand river, with its rich bottoms of alternate
forest and prairie. As I approached this lovely scenery, deer
and wolves, startled at sight of men, abandoned the place
and bounded away from sight amid the groves. Being
pleased and excited over the varied beauty before me, I cried
out 'Xbis is Mount Pisgah.' "

Here, also, when President Young and his company ar-
rived, the men were set to work as they had been at the pre-
ceding place. More than a thousand acres of land were
fenced and put undeT^uftivation, and a large collection of
log cabins erected. William Huntington, Ezra T. Benson,
and Charles C. Rich were put in charge, with instructions
similar to those given the presiding authorities at Garden^

422 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Grove. And on June 2d the advance company moved for-
ward toward the Mi^gy^rj, distant about nmety-five miles.

Presently came along the other companies of Israel.
The poorer made their homes at these iwo way stations,
while the rest went forward to join the first company. And
there soon grew up in this place, too, a perfect ant-hill activ-
ity. More houses were erected as there was need, schools
were established where the children might be instructed. But
th^[ejvasjnuch^Qverty. Only those things that were easily
movable had been brought from Nauvoo, and many of these
had been bartered on the way for food. Then, also, the
Saints were well-nigh broken down physically with their toil-
some march. The atmosphere, too, especially in the lower
parts of this place, was miasmatic. All these things together
induced the ravages of disease, which cut down many a life.
The President was one of the first victims. Lorenzo Snow
was stricken violently sick, but recovered through being bap-
tized in a river. Indeed sickness was general ; every family
had some one down with the fever; and people were dying
on every hand. So frequent were the deaths that the dead
were buried with little or no ceremony. One woman — a
Mrs. Gay — left a widow with three small children had the
wagon box cut up and made into a cofiin, and in this rude
box was her husband buried while she languished upon the
sick bed unable to attend the burial. And so it went ; many
were not so well provided with means of performing the last
sad rites. Sorrow and general lamentation were added to
destitution and sickness.

With what melancholy pathos do we read of the devices
resorted to in those days to induce forgetfulness of the gen-
eral sorrow. Lorenzo Snow was made President of the
Church at this place. The people were in a truly sad plight,
being destitute, not only of teams and wagons to convey

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 423

them to the next camping place, but also of food and cloth-
ing. President Snow records the loss of his cow as an incon-
solable grief. But the Saints at Mount Pisgah were fortu-
nate in having a man at their head of great natural resource
and determination. Choosing a couple of discreet, intelligent
men— Elders Dana and Campbell — he sent them to Ohio and
other parts of the country, "to invite rich Gentiles to con-
tribute to the wants of the Saints and assist them on their
journey westward." This plan, though it was generally re-
garded as wild and visionary, succeeded admirably; for the
brethren returned with about six hundred dollars. Parties
were held at various places, as well as the regular meetings
of the Saints. One of these may be described, held at Presi-
dent Snow's home. The house was a log structure fifteen by
thirty feet, with dirt floor and roof, and a chimney, "of mod-
est hight," in one end "made of turf cut from the bosom of
mother earth," for rock was not easily obtainable at Mount
Pisgah. The floor, on this occasion, was carpeted with a
thin layer of straw, the walls draped with white sheets
"drawn from featherless beds." The "hall" was lighted by
gay chandeliers made of hollowed turnips with candles in,
and nailed here and there upon the walls. The evening's
entertainment, interrupted long enough for the guests to par-
take of a dish of succotash, consisted of songs, recitations,
toasts, conundrums, and exhortations ; after which the crowd
went home feeling happy and full of praise for the ingenuity
of the host and hostess.

Winter Quarters.

The main camp of this exiled nation, however, was at.,.W%i-
terQuarjtfers, on the west bank of the Missouri. When the
first company reached the river they encamped close to the
water, but moved back, in a day or two, occupying some
! luffs, at which the Indians were wont to hold their councils.

4'i4 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

They could thus better guard themselves and their cattle
from the Redmen. But when it was known that the march
westward would have to be postponed till the next summer,
ferries were built and the camp moved across the river to a
beautiful situation on the bottoms. It was prett\^ well along-
in the summer when this occurred.

The houses, of course, were mostly of logs, like those at
the other two settlements. We say mostly because some of
them were "dug-outs," that is indentions made into the hill-
side and roofed over. But these were afterwards abandoned
upon the advice of President Young on account of the occu-
pants being more liable to exposure to disease. A fortifica-
tion was built round the town ; a grist mill was erected ; a log
tabernacle put up; and schools established. Much of this
work was done, singularly enough, to furnish employment to
the brethren ; for at longest the place would be occupied only
a few years.

That winter— i84.S:6:z:rwas a hard one for the Saints,
not only at Garden Groyg and Mount Pisgah, but also at
Winter Quarters. A meagre diet induced scurvy or black-
leg; ''the h'rribs would swell, become black, and the flesh be
very sore." This was cured chiefly by pptatoes which had
been brought from Missouri, and by horse-radish. which
some one had found growing in an abandoned fort a little
way from the town. But sickness was common. Food was
comparatively dear. The great demand for articles of con-
sumption by this great body of people had brought up prices
in the Gentile settlements. Wheat, for instance, rose from
about twenty cents a bushel to nearly fifty cents, corn from
twelve to twenty-five cents, and other things in proportion.
At first there was not a grist mill, and so all sorts of devices
were resorted to in order to grind the wheat. A cofTee mill
belonging to Alpheus Cutler did service for a number of
families, as many, in fact, as could use it. In like manner,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 425

other articles of general usefulness were constantly employed
by those wlio needed them, without thought of rental by the
owner.

The Saints had to take great precautions in order to
avoid a collision with the Indians. The President's policy
was always to give these wild people fair treatment. He
deprecated the practice so common among those who had
dealings with the Indians, of shooting them down on the
slightest provocation. In fact, nothing more was thought by
most white men, of killing an Indian than of butchering
some animal for food. But the "Mormon" leader advised
his people not to deal harshly with the Redmen. "It is
cheaper," he said, "to feed than to fight them." According-
ly, before the "Mormons" occupied Winter Quarters, the In-
dian agent had been consulted, and permission obtained to
make temporary homes there. In addition to this, President
Young kept on good terms with. Big Elk, the chief of the
Omaha tribes. Nevertheless, the Indians gave some trou-
ble. Seeing that no benefit came to them from the "Mor-
mon" occupation of their lands, but that, on the contrary,
their wood was being burned and their game frightened away
or killed, they undertook to help themselves to the stock be-
longing to the Saints. In this way a good many horses were
lost. Big Elk, however, promised to restrain his tribe in this
direction. Less fear, though, was experienced after the
erection of the stockade around the town. These and other
Indian depredations were partly the evil fruits of the con-
duct of those whites who had incited the Redmen to violence
against the "Mormons" by pouring into their ears wicked
tales about the alleged enmity of the latter for the Indians.
So, at least, the Indians informed President Young.

Kanesville.

When, however, it was discovered that a settlement on the

426 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Missouri would have to be retained for several years, it was
decided to move from Winter Quarters, which was on the In-
dian reservation, to the east side of the river. This was done
in the fall ofj^^ after a company had pushed its way west-
ward to the great Salt Basin, and the place was called, j^au**"
ville.

In January of the following year, a petition, numerously
signed, was sent to the Iowa legislature, asking for an organ-
ization of a county. A post office was established, with^Evaii
M^Green^as postmaster; and subsequently a county was
formed, called Pottawattainie^ Isaac Clark was judge of
probate ; George Coulson, Andrew H. Perkins, and David D.
Yearsley, county commissioners ; Thomas Burdick, county
clerk ; John D. Parker, sheriff ; James Sloan, district clerk ;
Evan M. Greene, recorder and treasurer ; and Jacob G. Big-
ler, William Snow, Levi Bracken, and Jonathan C. Wright,
magistrates. This place now became a point of importance,
and Winter Quarters was abandoned in the following spring.

It is at this time that we come again upon the political
machinations of non-"Mormons." In Iowa, as in Illinois,
the people were politically about equally divided into two
parties. As soon, therefore, as it was found that the "Mor-
mons" wanted a county organization, both parties pricked up
their ears in great attention to the slightest wishes of the new
comers. The Whi^s were especially active in an endeavor
to win over such a large body of voters. They delegated
Messrs. Roberts and Lyon to lay before the "Mormons" the
principles of Whigism. The former attended a caucus of the
leading citizens of Kanesville and dilated eloquently upon the
sufferings which the Saints had endured at the hands of "the
-'■eedy cormorants of Locofocoism." The Saints replied in
a letter to the State Executive Committee, hinting at their
reluctance to touch politics again, and detailing their tribula-
tions on account partly of political jealousy. If, said they, in

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 427

a preamble to some resolutions on the subjects, the Whigs of
Iowa will lift up their hands toward heaven and swear by the
Eternal Gods that they will use all their powers to repress
mobocracy, insurrection, rebellion, and violence, in whatever
form or from whatever source such might arise against the
Latter-day Saints and the citizens of Iowa, even to the sacri-
fice of all their property, and their lives if need be, and that
also a full share of representative and judicial authority shall
be extended to the Saints, then we will pledge ourselves to
unite our votes with those of the Iowa Whigs at the election
of the current year. The Whigs swore, the "Mormons" vot-
ed with them, and the county of Pottawattamie was created.
But we must say a word of the better side of this strange
life which these strange people led in the wilderness, "What
old persons call discomforts and discouraging mishaps," says
Colonel Thomas L. Kane, speaking of the double interpreta-
tion, which all adventures bear, "are the very elements to the
young and sanguine of what they are willing to term fun.
The Mormons took the young and hopeful side. They could
make sport and frolic of their trials, and often turn right
sharp suffering into right round laughter against themselves.
I certainly heard more jests and 'Joe Millers' while in this
Papillon camp than I am likely to hear in all the remainder
of my days." Elsewhere he disclaims for the "Mormons"
any extemporizing of new versions of Robinson Crusoe, and
adds that "it was a comfort to notice the readiness with
which they turned their hands to wood-craft ; some of them,
though I believe these had generally been bred carpenters,
wheelwrights, or more particularly boat-builders, quite out-
doing the most notable voyas^eurs in the use of the ax. One
of these would fell a tree, strip off its bark, cut and split up
the trunk in piles of plank, • scantling, or shingles ; make
posts, pins, poles — everything wanted almost of the branch-

428 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONlSM.

es ; and treat his toil, from first to last, with more sportive
flourish than a school-boy whittling his shingle."

In all this, Pitt's brass band furnished some of the fin-
est music. "It might be," continues Mr. Kane, "when you
were hunting a ford over the great Platte, the dreariest of
all wild rivers, perplexed among the far-reaching sand bars,
and curlew shallows of its shifting bed — the wind rising
would bring you the first faint thought of a melody ; and as
you listened, borne down upon the gust that swept past you a
cloud of the dry sifted sands, you recognized it — perhaps a
home-loved theme of Henry Proch or Mendelssohn. Men-
delssohn Bartholdy, away there in the Indian marches !"

By the year 1852, all these places — Garden Grove,
Mount Pisgah, and Kanesville — had been almost entirelv
abandoned by the "Mormon" people.

Things Spiritual.

An important change occurred at this time in the quorum of
Anostles. It was the organization, from their ranks, of the
First Prcsid£ncy,.-oi. the Church. Since the death of the
Prophet Joseoh the Twelve had acted as the presiding quor-
um ; but now it was deemed best to organize the Presidency
again. Accordingly, on the 5th of December, 1847^ ^t the
home of Orson Hyde a council of the Apostles was held.
There were present, BnghamYouog, Heber C. Kimball, Or-
son Pratt, Orson Hyde, Wilford WoodruflF, Willard Rich-
ards, George A. Smith, Amasa Lyman, and Ezra T. Benson.
The last named had been chosen in Tuly of this year to occu-
py the place made vacant by Toht-i E. Page, who had been dis-
fellowshipped by the quorum in January, 1846. Brigham
\oung was unanimously sustained President, and Heber J^.
Kimball and Willard Richards, his own selection, as coun-
selors.

On the 27th of December a conference was held at

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 429

Kanesville, continuing till the 29th. The new Presidencv
was unanimously sustained ; a high council for the east side
was chosen and voted in; and other Church business trans-
acted.

Nor was the missionary work permitted to suffer neg-
lect. In July, 1846, Apostles Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt,
and John Taylor were sent to England to regulate that mis-
sion, returnine home in April of the following year. Other
elders at various times during these few years were sent to
that country and the various states of the Union. It is cu'-i-
ous to note that during the year that the pioneer company
was pushiup- its way over the prairies and mountains of the
West, DaaJignes brought into the Church in Wales more
than six hundred souls. The gathering was discontinued till
after the location of a permanent home.

CHAPTER III.

t

A RAM IN THE THICKET.

/

The romantic ei^isode of the "Mormon" BattaHon is wortliA"
of a place in a popular history of the Church partly because
it shows what sacrifices these men were willing" to undergo
for their people, partly because it exhibits the loyalty of the
Latter-day Saints to the American government at the most
inopportune moment of their lives.

A Call to Arms.

In 1846 a war broke out with Mexico. A narrow strip of
land bordering on that country was claimed by Texas, which
the southern nation was unwilling to relinquish. President
Polk had oflFered to buy it, but the spirited Mexicans turned
the proposal away in the utmost scorn. Thereupon, the
President ordered General Taylor, with four thousand men,
to take possession of the disputed territory. Two battles
with a Mexican army were fought at Palo Alto and at Res-
aca de la Palma, in which the latter were repulsed with heavy
loss. Taylor then invaded Mexico, holding the northern part
of that country ; Kearny assumed control of New Mexico ;
and Fremont, with a small force, occupied California. The
war lasted a year and a half, at the end of which the United
States fell into possession of an enormous territory in west-
ern America, equal in area to Germany, France, and Spain
added together. What is now Utah, Idaho, and part of Col-
orado was included in this ceded district.

To aid General Kearney in taking the West, additional
forces were necessary. Now, the authorities at Washington,
knowing from various sources that the "Mormons" were on

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 431

their way to California or Oregon, determined to make use
of them to win the country. Accordingly, President- Polk,
instructed Kearny to call five hundred of these people to his
aid. At first the number proposed was one thousand, but
later it was changed to five hundred. The General did so,
and Captain Allen was delegated to Mount Pisgah to receive
the volunteers.

Such is one view of the origin of the battalion. Unfor-
tunately, however, there is another. Senator,...Thomas II.
Benton, of Missouri, according to this second explanation,
induced President Polk to issue this call, with the under-
standing that, if the "Mormons" did not respond — and the
Senator professed to know that they would not — he might
turn loose his Missouri war-dogs upon them, killing men,
women, and children. For the truth of this, however, we do
not vouch; but nothing is more certain than that Brigham
Young and the leading brethren firmly believed the existence
of such a plot, and they assure us that they had the most un-
questionable evidence to ground their belief upon. And it
must be confessed that even this butchery of a whole people
indiscriminately was not likely to be beyond the desire-range
of a mob that could perpetrate those horrible outrages we
have already detailed, not excluding the apparently purpose-
less hounding of their victims into their Illinois home. The
reader must not forget, however, that news of this diabolical
scheme did not come to the ears of President Young and his
people till after the battalion had gone.

When Captain Allen reached the "Mormon" camps at
Pisgah and the Blufifs, and the brethren were called together,
he counted off enthusiastically the numerous advantages that
would come to them through this Federal generosity. For
one thing, they might go to their destined home under the
protection and at the expense of the national government
(alas, for the sad humor, many, too man}' of them did go

432 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

homel) ; for another thing, they would receive seven dollars
a month from the day they enlisted; and for still another,
they might retain their arms when they were mustered out
of service in that far-away land. The Captain, no doubt, was
perfectly sincere. But the "Mormons" — those men and wo-
men who had several times been driven from their homes, if
not at the request of the state, yet with the sanction of the
state authorities, and were even now suffering unspeakable
destitution and hardship as a direct consequence of these nu-
merous drivings — these "Mormons," we urge, must be par-
doned, if under these circumstances, they entertained sus-
picions concerning this governmental affection. But Brig-
ham Young, with fine patriotism, begged them to make a dis-
tinction between the conduct of the states separately and the
conduct of the states collectively. The nation, he said, was
not responsible for their present outcast condition. So patri-
otism won the day, and Captain Allen ^ot liia._fi.v£..huiidr£4
men.

That the minds of these patriots might be distracted
from the griefs of parting, an elaborate "send-off" was pre-
pared, and everyone put on his cheeriest countenance. "The
afternoon before their departure," says Colonel Kane, who
was there, "was appropriated to a farewell ball ; and a more
merry dancing rout I have never seen, though the company
went without refreshments, and the ball-room was of the
most primitive. To the canto of debonair violins, the cheer
of horns, the jingle of sleigh bells, and the jovial snoring of
the tambourine, they did dance ! None of your minuets or
other mortuary processions of gentles in etiquette, tight
shoes, and pinching gloves, but the spirited and scientific
displays of our venerated and merry grandparents, who were
not above following the fiddle to the Fox-chase Inn, or Gar-
dens of Gray's Ferry. French fours, Copenhagen jigs, Vir-
ginia reels, and the like forgotten figures, and light feet, had

ONE ]IUNDRp:n YEARS OF MORMONISM. 433

iL their own way from an early hour till after the sun had
dipped behind the sharp sky-line of the Omaha hills. Si-
lence was then called, and a well-cultivated mezzo-soprano
voice, belonging to a young lady with a fair face and dark
eyes, gave with quartette accompaniment a little song, the
notes of which I have been unsuccessful in repeated efforts
to obtain since — a version of the text, touching to all earthly
wanderers :

" 'By the river of Babylon we sat down and wept.' "

Alread}', at a private counsel of the commissioned and
the non-commissioned officers, their Prophet had given them
some parting advice, and bestowed his farewell blessing.
They must be true to their country, he said, and true to God.
Not on a single occasion, he added prophetically, should thej
be required to shed human blood. They were to remember
their prayers ; to refrain from profanity, obscene lani^uarx- •
and the improper use of Deity's name; to be strictly virtuous
and cleanly ; to treat all men with kindness, and never take
that which did not belong to them, even from their worst
enemies in time of war, if they could possibly avoid it.

Then they took up their line of march towards Fort_
_Lxavenworth, where they were to be supplied, tramping to
the lively strains of Pitt's band, which accompanied them
part way, while above them waved the Stars and Stripes.
They passed St. Joseph marching to the tune of "The Girl I
Left Behind Me."

Still in that five hundred there must have been many a
sad heart. There were men whose wives and little children,
excent for the tender services of some good Samaritan,
would not know where to turn for the next morsel of food ;
there were sons who were the only stay of aged and widowed
mothers ; and many of these loved ones had struggled hero-
ically under the ravages of disease not to show unwonted
grief at the farewell. "This blow," writes one wife and
28

434 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

mother, speaking" of this melancholy parting from a husband
that never returned, "entirely prostrated me. But
I had just embarked upon my sea of troubles.
Winter found me bed-ridden, destitute, in a wretched
hovel which was built upon a hill-side ; the season was one of
constant rain; the situation of the hovel and its openness,
gave free access to piercing winds, and water flowed over the
dirt floor, converting it into mud two or three inches deep ;
no wood but what my little ones picked up around the
fences, so green that it filled the room with smoke; the rain
dropping and wetting the bed which I was powerless to
leave ; no relative to cheer or comfort me, a stranger away
from all who ever loved me ; my neighbors could do but lit-
tle, their own troubles and destitution engrossing their time."
Surely, this was a supreme test of loyalty, alike for those
who went and those who stayed at home !

Across the Continent.

Arrived at Port Leavenworth, the soldiers obtained their
muskets and provisions, and drew their pay. The fact that
every man in the battalion could write his own name, was a
cause of great surprise to the officers in charge ; for only a
few days before this, the Missouri volunteers had been
there, and two men out of every three had to sign
their names with a cross. Greater astonishment still
was manifested when each one of the men, after
making a generous contribution to aid Elders Hyde, £j:att,
and Taylor on their missions, turned over all the rest except
a few dollars to the brethren for his family and to help such
of the migrating Saints as might need assistance. August
I2th they left the fort on their long journey to the coast, by
way of Santa Fe.

Their march to this place was interrupted by a great
deal of sickness and many deaths. Among the first to fall

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 435

was Captain Allen, whom every man in the battalion had
learned to love. Upon his death the command was usurped
ijy a Lieutenant Smith, a fierce, unreasonable man, a non-
"Alormon," who had joined them upon hearing of Allen's
demise, much to the dissatisfaction of the battalion, who
should have had Captain Hunt of their own number as their
leader. To the forced marches together with the harsh con-
duct of Lieutenant Smith, and to the calomel and arsenic of
an unfriendly, not to say hateful doctor named Sanderson,
the survivors of that tedious march attribute most of their
sufferings and the deaths of their companions between Fort
Leavenworth and Santa Fe. Meanwhile, Captain Higgins
had been despatched to Pueblo with the women of the bat-
talion, who would, it was feared, prove a hindrance to the
progress of the soldiers.

At Santa Fe_ Colonel Cooke assunied command, much
to the relief of the troops, notwithstanding his reputation for
rigorous discipline. Before starting on their journey again,
all the sick — eighty-six in number — were sent to Winter
Quarters at Pueblo under Captain Brown. Subsequently,
fifty-five more, who had "come down" after leaving Santa
Fe, were sent to Pueblo in charge of Captain Willis. This
latter company had only six days' provisions, and no physi-
cian, to take them three hundred miles. Reduced thus to
about three hundred and fifty, the battalion proceeded on its
way to California. And what a journey that was! To-
wards the end of the march their shoes gave out, and they
resorted to the most extraordinary makeshifts for foot-wear.
One of these was to strip a piece of skin from the leg of an
ox without cutting it lengthwise, which, slipped over the
foot, served as a good moccasin. Their mules and oxen kept
dropping down every now and then on that trying journey,
and towards the last the men were hitched to the wagons.
Now they fairly broiled under the tropic sun of the sandy

436 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

desert ; now they were almost frozen under the frigid night-
sky of the mountains. Their food, too, ran short. Most of
the time they were on half rations. Toward the end they
were driven to the last extremities, scraping off the wool
from their saddle skirts, and boiling and eating the leather.
They went without water for whole days at a time. A song
composed by Levi W. Hancock, the camp musician and poet,
preserves for us some of the grim pictures of that melan-
choly march.

"And when an ox is like to die,
The whole camp halts, and we lay by ;
The greedy wolves and buzzards stay,
Expecting rations for the day.

"Our hardships reach their rough extremes,
When valiant men are roped with teams.
Hour after hour, and day after day.
To wear our strength and lives away."

But after each stanza came the hopeful refrain —
"How hard to starve and wear us out,
Upon this sandy, desert route.'"

At last the weary and half -clad battalion reached the
coast. They were congratulated by their leader, who de-
clared that, though he had seen some dark days in his time,
he had never even heard of anything like this journey.
"History," he said, "may be searched in vain for an equal
march of infantry. Half of it has been through a wilderness
where nothing but savages or wild beasts are found, or des-
erts, where, for want of water, there is no living creature.
There, with almost hopeless labor we have dug wells, which
the future traveler will enjoy. Without a guide who had
traveled them, we have ventured into trackless table-lands

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 437

where water was not found for several marches. With
crowbar and pick and ax in hand, we have worked our way
over mountains, which seemed to defy aught save the wild
goat, and hewed a passage through a chasm of living rock
more narrow than our wagons." And General Kearny,
when he heard the details of the march, said with great ear-
nestness : "Bonaparte crossed the Alps, but these men have
crossed a continent!"

Opciiiiii^ the Gold-hills.

To describe their sojourn in the land of flowers is not neces-
sary here. The months from the last of January. i^4.7i when
they arrived at San Diego, to the 17th of July, when they
were mustered out of service, they spent mostly in the pur-
suits of peace, digging wells, building houses, and teaching
these arts to the Spaniards. But they did not fight. The
nearest they came to taking on a warlike attitude was when
John C. Fremont's men refused to deliver up public property
and it appeared as if a civil war was imminent.

Wlien their term of service expired, an effort was made
to have them re-cnlist. Eighty-one of them did so ; but the
rest began their homeward journey, taking a route that
would bring them through the valley of the Great Salt Lake.
On their way, however, they were met by a party from the
Pioneers in the Rocky mountains, \yith letters from their
families, and the Church authorities. President Young ad-
vised as many as could do so to remain in California during
the coming winter, in response to which about forty of the
company turned back. The rest pursued their perilous jour-
ney to what is now Utah, finding there not only the pioneer
company but also their comrades of the battalion who had
spent the preceding winter at Pueblo.

It was some of those battalion boys that returned to
California who were the discoverers of gold in that State. It

438 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

happened in this manner: Alexander Stephens, James S.
Brown, James Barger, WilHam Johnson, Azariah Smith.
Henry W. Bigler, with some others not of the battaHon,
sou.q'ht and obtained employment of a Mr. Sutter and a Mr.
Marshall, digging a millrace. When it was finished water
was turned into it, but afterwards taken out because of some
washouts near the flume. Mr. Marshall went below to as-
certain the effect of the wash, when his eye caught some yel-
low glitteriiig metal. This was the first intimation of gold in
the Gold State. "The 'Mormon' discharged soldiers," says
the Battalion chronicler, "shook the bush, and friend Mar-
shall, unexpectedly, caught the bird." But Californians have
never been overly-anxious to acknowledge even this connec-
tion between their own Land of Flowers and the despised
Bee Hive State.

In^ Februarjj,, j. 85 5 , ^the "Mromon" Battalion held its
first reunion in the social hall at Salt Lake City. During the
progress of the entertainment they were addressed by Presi-
dents Young, Kimball, and Grant, who spoke very highly of
the sacrifices made by these men for the salvation of the
Saints. A huge banner had been made for the occasion, on
which were inscribed the words : "Mormon" Battalion — the
Ram in the Thicket."

CHAPTER IV.

BLAZING THE TRAIL.

Having followed the fortunes of this moving nation from
Nauvoo to Council Bluffs and observed their life in their
temporary home in the wilderness, we have now to trace
their history over the wild and desolate region lying between
these places and their destination and also their strange ways
in their desert abode. And first of their journey there.

The Pioneer Company.

No sooner had President Young arrived at__Council Bluffs
than he began to cast about him for means to accomplish the
removal to the mountains. Realizing the gigantic labor and
danger involved in transporting such an immense body of
men, women, and children over an untraversed country of a
thousand miles, he and his brethren decided to make tempor-
ary homes for the people at the places we have named and
to despatch a select company to pioneer the way to their
western home. For this purpose one hundred able-bodied
men, well-provisioned and unencumbered by families, were
to be chosen. They were to have twenty-five wagons and
fifty yokes of oxen — every four men a wagon and a double
team — each man twolTundrecTand fifty pounds of flour with
otHer necessary articles ; the company to be amply provided
with farming implements and seeds. It was the intention to
have them go in the summer of '46, make a selection of a
suitable location for the winter ;^o"me were to remain there
so as to be on hand the following spring to put in crop.*,
while others were to return to guide the remaining companies
thither. But this excellent plan was not executed then on

4-40 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

account of the call for the battalion. The President, how-
ever, never lost track of the idea.

In the spring of '47, a company was formed to accom-
plish what the other was to be chosen for, except that the late-
ness of the season would prevent the putting in of crops that
would be likely to mature. One hundred and forty-four men
were selected — twelve times twelve, — though afterwards
three women and two children were included in the number
— the wives of President Young, his brother Lorenzo D.,and
Heber C. Kimball. They were well-provided with wagons,
food for the journey, and farming tools — but, it seems, not so
well as the other would have been. This company, which in-
cluded seven of the Apostles, left Elkhorn — twenty-seven
miles beyonrifTVTnter^uarters — on the 15th of April.

Did Brigham Young know where he was taking this
pioneer company ? We have no absolutely positive answer to
this question, but several things point to the fact that he did.
One of these is the appearance of progress to a definite end in
the company's march. Xo one who reads the details of this
journey can fail to be impressed with this fact. Another is.
that the Prophet Joseph, before his death, indicated that the
objective point of the journey he was about to undertake was
the Great Basin of the Rocky mountains. And a third lies
in the very definite inquiries President Young made of the
trappers whom the company met on their way, as well as the
remark he made when he first looked upon the valley of the
Great Salt Lake.

It is not necessary for us to follow in much detail this
memorable journey. Leaving the Elkhorn on April 15th,
they followed, for hundreds of miles, the meandenngs of the
Nnrtl^ Platte. ti-»rrMinr}^ |\^iphrr^<i|^p on7^^^^■r>m1•npr keeping on

the north side of this stream in order to avoid, as much as
possible, any contact with parties of their old-time enemies,
tlie Missourians. who might be on their way to Oregon;

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. i41

thence touching Fort Laramie, an old trading post, ^^^
gltUf-'^r Independence Rock, Devil's Gate. Little and Big
Sandy, and Fort Bridger, into Echo canyon and through
!^fl^igration into the valley of the Salt Lake. .Their trail, for
many a mile, is now marked by the line of the Union Pacific
railroad. At different times they met Charles Beaumont,
Moses Harris, and James Bridger, trappers and traders, of
whom they obtained much valuable information regarding
the country ahead. Harris and Bridger drew extremely dark
pictures of the Salt Lake valley, the latter being willing, he
said, to give one thousand dollars for the first bushel of corn
raised there ; though they spoke very highly of a valley north-
ward called Cache. When the pioneers reached the region of
the Black Hills, their supply of provisions threatened to give
out ; but some Missourian emigrants renewed it in return
for being ferried over the Platte at this point. The personnel
of the company, too, underwent some change. They had
barely started when one man took sick, and returned. Once,
sevejntegnJMississippi Saints joined them; Iatei_£aur..meil -Out
of the original number were sent back to guide a body of
Saints from that State to the trail of the pioneers ; on anoth-
er occasion, nine men were left to ferry the next company
across the river; and subsequently thirteen of the battalion
"55^, from Pueblo, caught up with. them. Their number,
after these deductions and additions, ^ailftfiS hundred and
sixty-five.

Towards the end of the journey, the company became
divided. The vanguard was headed bv, Orsjon Pratt, making
the first impressions of a wagon road on the hitherto un-
marked country. The last company included President
Young, who was suffering from mountain fever. The pio-
neers, therefore, entered the valley at different times^^Orson
Exit's party being the first, making their descent on the 22n<l
of Tulv. the President's oiTjthe.24tll. On the day before th--

442 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

—the 23rd— President Young, reclining in Elder Woodruff's
carriage, requested the vehicle to be turned that he might
have, from an eminence, a view of the valley. This was done.
Long and earnestly these two pioneers feasted their eyes on
the wild, barren scene spread out before them, and the
President said finally —

"Enough. This is the place. Drive on!"
He had seen this place in vision, and "many things of
the future concerning the valley." It was here he had seen
"the tent settling down from heaven and resting," "Here is
the place," said a voice at the time, "where my people Israel
shall pitch their tents."

Other Companies.

From this time on till the railroad was established, trains of
emigrant wagons might be seen every summer crossing the
plains to the mountain of the Lord's house.

The first to enter the valley, after the pioneer company,
was the detachment of the "Mormon" battalion, which had
been sent, sick, to winter quarters at Pueblo. Having re-
mained there over winter, they now started west towards
California, where they expected to be mustered out of ser-
vice, taking the old Oregon trail, under the leadership of
Captain Brown. Subsequently, however, they changed their
mind about going to California, and entered the Valley a few
days after the pioneers, thus increasing the population there
to about four hundred souls.

A second emigrating^company left the Elkhorn on the
v^QjhofJune, reaching Salt Lake A^allcy in the fall. It num-
bered about two thousand persons, men, women, and chil-
dren, in five hundred and sixty wagons. They brought with
them fully five thousand head of cattle. In this company
were Apostles Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor, Eto R-
Snow, Father Tolm Smith. Lorin Farr, George Q. Cannon,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 443

the Thatchers, the Benmons, and the Hfihekers, Jedediah M.
Grant, and A. O. Smoot.

Meantime, about half the pioneer company were re-
turning to the Missouri river to prepare for further immi-
gration to the Valleys in the spring.

Xn_i848, several large companies left Winter Quarters
for the new home. One under President Young numbered
more than twelve hundred, another under Heber C. Kimball
numbered nearly seven hundred, and still another uvAcr Wil-
lard Richards numbering more than five hundred — tw^eiLtv-
^four hundred and seventeen souls in all, with seven hundred
and ninct3"-t\vo wagons and immense herds of cattle and
.^pxsfis. Along with this company went Daniel H. Wells,
who had joined the Church since the Prophet's death and
cast his lot with the unfortunates, Lorenzo Snow, Franklin
D. Richards, John Smith, Joseph F. Smith, then a boy of
nine years, with his widowed mother, Newel K. Whitney,
and Horace S. Eldredge. The population of the Valley was
now swelled to between four and five thousand.

Other large companies came each year following. Im-
migration to Utah was facilitated by the organization, in
1^840. of what was known as the Perpetual Emigration Fund,
consisting originally of five thousand dollars, which was
lent to the needy Saints both on the frontier and in England.
In that country alone there were at least thirty thousand, who
desired to come to America, but many of whom were finan-
cially unable to do so. Means borrowed from this fund put
them in a position to emigrate, and thus the deserts of the
West were peopled with what Dickens called the flower of his
own country.

Of one company of emigrants it is necessary to speak in
some detail — the handcart company of '56. With a view to
reducing the expense of crossing the plains. President Young
conceived the idea of making the journc}; \yith handcartSr

444 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

The project was very popular in England, and many gave up
their employment before definite arrangements had been
made for their passage over the sea. And so the president of
the European mission preferred to let them make the trip
rather than allow them to take the chances of their obtaining
positions in England. Most of them probably would have
found their way to the inevitable and much-dreaded work-
house. Two companies of five hundred persons each left
the frontiers early in June, arrTving^s'afely. for the most part,
at their destination, though many were aged and sickly and
had walked the entire distance dragging or pushing loaded
handcarts. Oi^JJTe^JL-OijQctober a third company reached
Salt Lake in tolerable condition, having left lowji. City in the
latter part of-^une.

T^vo other companies followed, and it was these that
have caused the name handcart company to be sent down the
}ears a synonym of aphony qnd anp^uish. One had left the
City of Iowa on the 15th of July, the other had crossed the
Missouri. on th£-.2.2d.jQf the month following. Under ordin-
ary conditions, however, they would have reached the Valley
before snowfall. But the winter of '56 set in unusually
early. The first party reached the city on the 9th of Novem-
ber, the second on the ist of DecemTjer. But the snow and
cold had long since impeded their progress, resulting in great
suffering and many deaths. Women and children, as well as
men, were compelled to wade the streams in the bitter cold;
and to lie out nights without sufficient covering. Their food
gave out too. Many died on 'the way. As soon as it was dis-
covered in Salt Lake City that an early wdnter w'ould set in,
wagon-loads of provisions, clothing, and bedding were sent
out b>- the Presidency of the Church to meet them, and every-
thing within human possibility was done to relieve their in-
tense suffering. Nothing expresses more strongly, though
pritl'.ctically, how great was this suffering than the manner

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM, 445

in which the reheving party were received. On first per-
ceiving, about sundown, that some wagons were approaching
from the direction of the Valley, all who could, turned out to
the welcome. Women fell upon the newly-arrived brethren,
showering kisses upon them ; children danced in gladness,
not knowing why; strong men wept uncontrollably, and
were dumb from sheer over- joy. It was the same in the sec-
ond camp. Presently all were fed and tucked warmly away
in wagons, and in this manner they arrived at their destina-
tion.

Some Characteristics of this Migration.

It remains for us in this section to describe those interesting
journeys, taking no particular one but several combined,
though nearly every incident and phase was many times du-
plicated.

Strangers, upon first coming in contact with "Mormon-
ism" invariably remark upon their inevitable trait of organ-
izing every collective effort into concerted units. Nothing
reveals this characteristic better than these migrations of the
"Mormons" westward. The companies were never large
enough to be unwieldy. Each was divided into hundreds,
fifties, and tens, with an officer over each division. A bugle
note gave the signal for rising and retiring, for prayer, for
meals, and for beginning and ending each day's march. The
nights were usually divided into two watches. Traveling, in
times of peace, two wagons abreast, in times of danger, four
abreast, and then every man with his gun ready for action,
the "Mormons" could never be much surprised by Indian at-
tacks.

They made their own roads as they went. As we have
seen they purposely avoided the regular well-beaten road of
western emigrants. All fordable streams they crossed with-
out much trouble. Every now and then, however, they had

■ir4G ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

to Stop long- enough to make a bridge, and where the
stream — such, for instance, as the Platte river — was too wide
to be bridged, they used their leather boat or made a ferry.
Log canoes were soon made and covered with split poles, to
convey the wagons from one bank to another. The cattle
and horses were forced to swim these larger streams. Of this
last interesting phase of this strange life, Colonel Kane has
given us a graphic picture. A herd of thirty thousand cattle
is to be got across the Missouri at a point where it is nearly
a mile and a half wide, owing to a heavy freshet. "They
were gathered in little troops on the shore, and driven for-
ward till they lost their footing. As they turned their heads
to return, they encountered the combined opposition of a
clamorous crowd of bystanders, vicing with each other in the
pungent administration of inhospitable affront. Then rose
their hub-hub ; their geeing, and wooing, and hawing ; their
yelling, and yelping, and screaming; their hooting, and his-
sing, and pelting. The rearmost steers would hesitate to
brave such a rebuff; halting, they would impede the return
of the outermost ; they all would waver ; wavering for a
moment, the current would sweep them together downward.
At this juncture a fearless youngster, climbing upon some
brave bull in the front rank, would urge him boldly forth
into the stream ; the rest then surely followed ; a few mo-
ments saw them struggling in mid current ; a few more, and
they were safely landed on the opposite shore. The driver's
was the sought-after post of honor here ; and sometimes,
when repeated failures have urged them to emulation, I have
seen the youths, in stepping from back to back of the strug-
gling monsters, or swimming in among their battling hoops,
display feats of address and hardihood, that would have
made Franconi's of the Madrid bull-ring vibrate with bravos
of applause."

The "Mormons" seem not to have been in very great

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 447

"f^^flff'^''" ^'"'^ir '^^"'^ LqiiUiiJiites. These wild reamers of the for-
est appear early to have drawn a distinction between the
"Mormon" and the ordinary Gentile white. As already stat-
ed, it was a common opinion in those days that there could
l)e no more wrong" in killing Indians than there was in slay-
ing a lower animal. But this idea was not shared by the
Saints. On the contrary, they looked upon the life of a Red-
man as sacred as the White man's. And the savage, in re-
turn, viewed the "Alormon" as his fellow-sufferer at the
hands of the Eastern Gentile, both having been forcibly ex-
pelled to the West. Nevertheless, the companies of Saints
suffered from the depredations of the Indians. Sometimes,
large bands of these wild people would come to their camps
begging powder and trinkets in comipensation for the priv-
ilege of passing through their lands. Sometimes, however,
they would resort to all kinds of devices, such, for instance,
as shaking a buffalo robe or blanket within sight of the
"Mormon" cattle, in order to create a stampede. In this and
other ways the Saints lost many animals.

An entirely unique feature of these now interesting jour-
neys was the frequent sight of great herds of buffalo. The
presence of these animals was ususally indicated by im-
mense clouds of dust in the rear. Then the emigrants pre-
pared themselves and their stock against being moved out
of their places. Next a strange roaring noise would be no-
ticed, which gradually increased as the herd approached, till
it would be both deafening and frightful. Presently, tens of
thousands of these wild animals would gallop awkwardly by,
their heads down and tails in the air. Sometimes, when meat
was needed, but never unless it was needed, the brethren
would shoot at them as they passed. Whenever the bullet
struck a vital spot, all was well; but when it struck some
other part of the huge body, the enraged bison would very
likely stop in its clumsy career and make an angry dash at

448 ONE HUNbUED YEARS OF MORxMONlSM.

the first strani,^^ object in slight. Sometimes, too, these buf-
falo herds liad a disastrous efifect on the domestic animals —
oxen, cows, and horses ; and there would be a general stam-
pede. Rut on the whole this was an enjoyable spectacle, a
lierd of bufifalo on the run.

Altogether the most singular thing, however, connected
with these numerous pioneer migrations is the manner of life
led by the people themselves, thgir bus<-l''"|;^ TV^^Y and their
endless contrivances to utilize every opportunity or event.
The "Mormons" never forgot their simple devotions, or laid
by their religion till the next convenient time to take it up.
Prayers were offered every morning and evening — gratitude
for past favors, petitions for continued blessings. Cursing
and swearing was rarely if ever heard in their camps, nor the
taking of God's name in vain, nor an obscene jest or story.
Colonel Kane names it as a remarkable thing (and it was)
that in the hours and h.ours that he watched the sport at the
ferry side of the cattle crossing the Missouri, he had "never
heard an oath or the language of quarrel, or knew it to pro-
voke the least sign of ill-feeling." The presiding officers
were uniformly kind, the people as a rule obedient, uncom-
plaining, self-sacrificing. Most of those who were at all able
to do so walked every step of the one thousand miles, some-
times, towards the end without shoes and stockings and little
enough other clothing. As soon as a suitable camping place
had been found, which was usually on the bank of some
stream, the wagons would be drawn up in a circle, the
tongues being on the outer side and the front wheels of one
locked to the hind wheels of another. Two openings at op-
posite points, which were carefully guarded at night, fur-
nished ample egress and entrance. Sometimes, however, the
bank of the creek or river, if serviceable, was made use of as
one side of a half-circle. In this whole or semi-circle the
work-cattle were guarded, the camps being on the outside.

U>fE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMOXISM. 44^

The cobbler, the wheelwright, the harnessmaker would take
advantage of the rest in order to repair some article. In the
evening by the camp-fires, men, women, and children would
sit in groups and tell stories, crack jokes, and sing the songs
of Zion. There was no traveling on Sunday, for the Saints
were genuine Israelites in their observance of the Sabbath.
Services would be held, and some of the leading elders give
such counsel as was suggested by their present situation.
Moreover, one day in the week was usually given over to
laundry work. Fires would be kindled here and there ; chil-
dren sent for wood to replenish them ; tubs, washboards, and
other necessary articles used in this process would be dragged
from their recesses in the wagons ; posts fixed in the ground,
if there were not bushes enough, and lines stretched from
one to another ; and everyone doing something, if it was only
singing a lively song or whistling a merry tune to keep up
the spirits of the camp. The jolting of the wagons, as we
have seen, was utilized to churn the cream into butter, and
William Clayton, on the pioneer journey, invented an odome-
ter, which served to measure accurately the distance passed.
One gunsmith is said to have invented a species of repeating
rifle on this exodus. Every now and then on the road, the
first company contrived to leave messages to their successors ;
the peeled side of a tree, or the broad white surface of a buf-
falo head answering the purpose as well as the best paper
and pencil.

Such, given in bare outline, is the famous and never to-
be-forgotten journey of the "Mormon" pioneer companies
from the frontiers of eastern civilization into the heart of the
great American desert.

29

PART FIFTH.
The Mountain of the Lord's House.

CHAPTER I.

A BATTLE WITH THE SOIL.

In the present chapter we shall detail in convenient groups
the principal events, material and spiritual, which lie between
the years 1847 ^^d 1857.

The New Home.

Whatever may be the opinion of tourists of our own day re-
specting the patch of verdure lying between the "cold and
barren peaks" of Colorado on the east and the shifting sands
of Nevada on the west, surely that was no paradise of the
gods upon which the weary eyes of the "Mormon" pilgrims
rested on that memorable July day as they stood on the sum-
mit of the eastern ridge overlooking the Valley of the great
Salt Lake. It almost answered to that famous picture of the
whole West which the great Webster drew for the Senate
some years before this: a vast, worthless area, a region of
savages and wild beasts, of deserts, of whirlwinds of dust, of
cactus and prairie dogs, of endless mountain ranges, impene-
trable, and covered to their very base with eternal snow. At
all events, it was a treeless waste, a thirsty alkali desert,
wholly given up to the snake, the lizard, and the cricket-eat-
ing Indian. No marvel that some of the women of the pio-
neer company were inconsolable at the prospect it offered,
and expressed a desire to continue the journey for another
thousand miles !

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OE MORMONISM. 451

Still, the rest of the company were pleased ; not indeed
with what the natural eye beheld, but with what was visible
only to the spiritual organ. It offered them an isolation from
the cruel arm of the persecutor. Here they could be alone
with their own laws and rulers ; here they would be the "old
settlers," and if, according to the principles that prevailed in
the lands where they came from, there was to be any driving,
they would not be driven. That the place was now desolate,
was no evidence that, under their transforming hand, guided
by the Holy Spirit, it might not become a place of beauty and
loveliness. Was not the marshland of Commerce dreary and
repulsive ? And yet had it not sprung up in a few years into
a city of which any community might be proud? What, in
the language of Apostle Woodruff at this very time, was to
hinder "the house of God" from being "established in the
mountains, and exalted above the hills," and these valleys
from being "converted into orchards, vineyards, and fruitful
fields, cities erected in the name of the Lord, and the stand-
ard of Zion unfurled for the gathering of the nations?" The
President expressed his "entire satisfaction at the appear-
ance of the valley as a resting place for the Saints.' ' Shortly
after this. President Young said, "H the Gentiles will let us
alone for ten years, I'll ask no odds of them."

Anti-" Mormon" writers have never ceased to point, with
visible triumph, to these hopeful feelings, and especially to
this sentence of Brigham Young's, as proof that it was the
intention of the "Mormons" to set up a government of their
own and assume a defiant attitude towards the nation. But,
as our own writers have pointed out, such a view is wholly
irreconcilable with the general conduct of the President and
his people. That there were both opportunity and motives at
hand to do this, is undeniable. Utah was then a part of
Mexican territory, and the United States had never shown
any friendship for the "Mormons" It is perfectly clear, also,

452 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

that the inhabitants of Utah, especially those who had lived
in Missouri and Illinois, hated the Missourian with genuine
hatred ; as indeed they had good reason to do. Anti-"Mor-
mons" are therefore right enough in the statement that it
was only natural that the Saints should wish to break away
entirely from Union control, but they are wrong in attrib-
uting these sentiments to the early "Mormons." They are
only those that would have been entertained by themselves in
like circumstances. The sentiments entertained by the Saints
for the freest government in the world with a Constitution
inspired of heaven, were too deep-rooted to be shaken by
Missouri mobs or even by the cold passivity of the national
government. How otherwise can we explain the hoisting of
the stars and stripes on Ensign peak by the pioneers, and
their appeal, oftentimes repeated, for admission into the
Union ?

Material Groivth.

Very naturally, the first steps taken by the pioneers of '47
were those looking towards an increase of food supplies and
making themselves comfortable for the winter. They were
many hundred miles from the nearest habitation, and it
would be impossible to return there every now and then
when food was needed. It was like being on a ship in case of
fire — there was no going out at the back door.

The first company, upon reaching a suitable spot in the
Valley began plowing. This was on thp, 22H of Jt^lv. Find-
ing that the soil was dry and hard, they turned water upon it
from the creek, and so_c£a3aaifflP^the..great system of irriga-
tion that was to reclaim the American desert. On the Mon-
day following they planted several acres of potatoes, corn,
peas, and other vegetables. But the crops were destined nev-
er to mature. Later, a log fort was built on the Sixth ward
squareT a series of log and adobe cabins in the form of a

! ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 453

square, entirely closed. The highest wall was on the outside,
with no doors or windows — these being on the other side, —
but only port holes, which might be useful in case of Indian
attacks. The roofs, made of boards or split poles covered
with brush and earth, all sloped towards the inside of the
fort. Inexperience had made them so flat that the rain and
melting snow leaked through upon the beds, tables, and
stoves. Frequently, therefore, during the wet season, the
women might be seen at the cook stove holding over them an
umbrella, to keep the rain off, or perhaps someone reclining
or lying in bed under this unique shelter. But even this lux-
ury was rare, as umbrellas were scarce. A sort of clay mixed
with water formed a whitewash "only inferior to lime," but
it would not hold the water so well as common mud. Pro-
visions were carefully husbanded, for they were certain to
give out before harvest time. Once, on New Year's, Apostle
Taylor gave a dancing party — having first obtained permis-
sion of the stake president — at which, in addition to a
"spread" contributed to by every one that- came — much
against the host's feelings, however — there were speeches
grave and gay. Clothing also became threadbare that win-
:er, and the skins of animals were utilized. One of tht
brethren who spent this winter in the valley records his pride
upon coming into possession of a pair of elk-skin trousers.
"All is quiet, stillness," wrote Apostle Parley P. Pratt to
Orson Hyde at Kanesville of the first year in the Valley.
"No elections, no police reports, no murders, no war in our
little world. The legislation of our high council, the decis-
ion of some court or bishop, a meeting, a dance, a visit, an ex-
ploring tour, an arrival of a party of trappers and traders, a
Mexican caravan, a party arrived from the Pacific, from the
States, from Forts Hall or Bridger, a visit of Indians, or per-
haps a mail from the distant world once or twice a year, is
all that breaks upon the monotony of our peaceful and busy

45 i ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

life. The drum has beat, to be sure, but it was mingled with
merry making, or its martial sound was rather to remind us
that war had been among the nations." This first winter
was fortunately an unusual one, the mildest that Utah has
ever seen.

Spring opened with bright prospects for the colony of
Saints. During winter there had been plowing every now
and then. InJFehrjuary, farmwork was begun in real earnest.
A lin^_of fencing t^v£lxe miles long had been constructed, be-
ginning at a point of the mountain just below the warm
springs extending through what is now the Seventeenth ward
to the Old Fort and thence past Mill Creek to the mountains,
enclosing five thousand acres of land. All this was put un-
der cultivation, the women and children aiding in the work.
Meantime, food was running short, and Hkewise clothing.
Sego and thistle roots were therefore called into requisition.
The tops of the thistle made good greens and furnished the
necessary bulk if not the nutriment ; for, as one of those who
lived through it all declares, with grim humor, "to have the
stomach full was an agreeable sensation, even if the contents
were only thistle tops." A number of families, moreover,
had lost some of their cows, or it might be those they had
were dry. The common dress in those days, for men and
women alike, was bed-ticking, burlap, or the skins of ani-
mals. Contrasting, however, with this primitive apparel was
an occasional silken gown worn in the kitchen, which had
been put on as a last resort.

In this manner the summer wore on. But their troubles
were by no means ended. It seemed, indeed, as if the "hope"
expressed in the thirteenth article of their faith were des-
tined to receive literal fulfillment, and they were fated really
"to endure all things." For no sooner had the wheat begun
to cover the fields with verdure, and they to look forward
hopefully to a rich harvest than great clouds of crickets, like.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 455

one of Egypt's plagues, deseeded from the hills to destroy
^eir crops. ~ In vain did men, women, and children exert
themselves to turn aside or destroy the pests. On they came
with ever increasing numbers, eating, as they did so, every
green thing before them, leaving behind what bore the ap-
pearance of a burnt prairie. At last the people gave up in
despair. They would surely starve next winter. And they
thought of dispatching a messenger to President Young im-
ploring him to turn back with his com.panies. Nor were
these feelings diminished when, one morning at dawn, they
beheld luicounted hosts of sea gulls descending upon their
fields from the lake islands. "Doubtless," they thought,
"w^at the locusts will not destroy the fowls will." But the
gulls proceeded, strangely enough, to destroy, not the grain,
but the crickets. All day they gorged upon the pests, flew
to the lake shore to disgorge, and back to the fields to gorge
again, till nothing was left of the crickets, and thus half the
crops were saved. A strange interposition of divine love, the
Saints have always regarded it, like the feeding of the
starved Israelites in the wilderness and the descent of the
quails in the camps of modern Israel on Mississippi's banks !

In the winter of 1848-9, the people in the Valley were
^^^uLojixations. It was found soon after the harvest of_'48
that, counting till the 5th of the following July, there would
be three-fourths pounds of flour a day for each person. For
the rest they managed as they had done before the harvest —
roots and herbs were again put to use. And their clothing
was of practically the same texture and variety as in the
previous year.

While the Saints were living in this primitive manner,
with little food and clothing, there occurred a strange inci-
dent, which unites in a way peculiar to the "Mormons" the
temporal and the spiritual. One Sabliath clny at a public
meeting. President Kimball uttered a remarkable prophecy.

456 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

"Brethren," he said, after referring to their poverty, "it will
be but a little while before you shall have food and raiment
in abundance, and shall buy it cheaper than it can be bought
in the city of St. Louis!" Great was the astonishment of
the brethren. "I don't believe a word of it!" frankly con-
fessed Charles C. Rich. Heber himself, after he sat down
and "the Spirit had gone out of him," had very serious mis-
givings. "I believe," he remarked, "that I've missed it this
time." But he had not. For "in a little while"— ^^^40* —
long trains of wagons loaded with merchandise came into
Salt Lake City from the States, on their way to the new_El
Dorado in California. The merchants had taken this means
of increasing their wealth, instead of digging for gold. But
on their way like thousands of others, they were stricken
with the gold fever, and they found, on reaching the Valley,
that their merchandise would prove an exasperating hin-
drance to a hasty march. So they gave away or sold at in-
credibly low prices everything in the shape of "incumbrance,"
which they had laboriously carried from the East. Even
their wagons and horses they were anxious to trade for light-
er vehicles and mules. At any rate, on they went, post-
haste, to the gold fields, leaving wagon-loads of "States
goods" with the needy "Mormons," in literal fulfillment of
one of the most remarkable predictions on record.

This prophecy subsequently gave President Kimball an
opportunity to explain, in part at least, the strange spiritual
phenomenon of foretelling future events. He did not claim
to be a prophet, he said. The California trains would have
come whether or not he had predicted their coming. Only,
in this instance, God had condescended to allow his servant
to "see the future purposes of the Lord." He had heard the
Prophet Joseph say, he went on, that "he was much tempted
about the revelations the Lord gave through him — it seemed
to be impossible for them to be fulfilled."

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 467

A great deal was done during these ten years — from
1847 to 1857 — towards expanding the "Mormon" common-
wealth! ^a!t Lake City was laid out. A few days after the
arrival of the first company, President Young and a few oth-
er leading brethren decided to set apart what is now the
temple block. The city, said Brigham, shall be commodious,
the streets running directly east and west, north and south
crossing at right angles. The centre blocks were to be ten
acres and the outer ones larger in proportion to their dis-
tance from the temple site. Later, exploring parties were
sent out in different directions from the camp; and these
traveled a great many miles visiting the warm springs, the
Jordan and the lake, in the latter of which the explorers took
a plunge. When the OldFort had been vacated and houses
began to appear on city lots, and when it was found that Salt
Lake Valley would not accommodate the entire population,
settlements were formed in other valleys. Thus, Bountiful
was settled in March, 1848, by Perrigrine Sessions"; t)gden
valley, in June, 1848, by Captain James Brown; Utah valley,
in March, 1849, by John S. Higbee ; Sanpete valley, in No-
vember, 1849, by Isaac Morley, Seth Taft, and Charles
Shumway ; and so on till the good places of the State had
been discovered and builc up. Sometimes, men were called
to settle in this that or the other place with their families;
and the men thus called looked upon their work as a mission
which must be filled. In^^S^^ there were about twenty thouj;;^
sand inhabitants in the various settlements, which number
was rapidly increasing every year by emigrations from Eng-
land. Commodious frame and adobe structures were taking
the place of the temporary dwellings that had been put up at
first. ]\lills and factories were being established ; and a pros-
perous community was growing out of the poor stragglers
that wended their way, in 1845, from the banks of the Mis-
sissippi. In an incredibly short time they had found a new

458 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

home, planted and harvested immense crops of grain and
Other food stuffs, estabhshed towns and cities on a permanent
basis, and become owners of large tracts of land and great
herds of cattle, horses, and sheep.

Another famine* however, visited the Saints in i8fi6.
The crops of '54 and '55 hadLboth. failed, owing partly to the
grasshoppers, partly to drought. When the scarcity began,
many people, having taken the repeated counsel of the
Church authorities, had their granaries filled. But not for
long, however, for they either gave away or sold their grain
to the needy for six dollars per hundred, the regular tithing
office price, whereas they might have obtained the market
price of between twenty and thirty dollars. Towards the end
of the famine there was great suffering. Most of the people
resorted to the old practice of digging roots. The preceding
winter, too, had been severe. Hence, the cattle, which might
have served for food, became thin ; thousands of them died
through exposure to the rough weather combined with lack
of food.

Those years of scarcity in Utah, indeed the whole period
of the early settlement, were one long hard battle with the
soil — a contest in which victory seemed now on one side, now
on the other. Every morsel which the pioneer ate he had to
wrest by the strong arm of toil from his powerful antag-
onist. The wild mountain streams had to be caught and
tamed into his service. The alkali plains had to be trans-
formed into fields of waving green. And these in turn had
to be protected from the ravages of insect and storm. But
under it all he was happy and contented, for he stood no
longer in dread of mobbings and drivings.

Spiritual Ez'cnfs.

These temporal affairs, however, while they necessarily oc-
cupied the greater portion of their time and thoughts, were

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 459

not the only things that claimed the attention of the Saints.
During these years there was such a strange, yet absolutely
necessary and unavoidable, combination of the civic and the
religious that it is with difficulty that the events of those days
are separated ; indeed, sometimes it is impossible to do so.

The 25th of July, 1847, being Sunday, two meetings
were held by the pioneers. Among the speakers was Apostle
Orson Pratt, whose mind meanwhile had evidently been
ruminating on some of the old prophecies. He quoted many
passages of Scripture to show that the Saints in coming west
to the Rocky mountains were fulfilling predictions uttered
hundreds of years previously. The mountain of the Lord's
house should be established in the tops of the mountains and
elevated above the hills ; an ensign should be unfurled there
for the gathering of the nations ; and their feet were to be
blessed, who, on the mountains, should publish peace and say,
"Thy God reigneth !"

In February, 1849, Elders Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo
Snow, Erastus Snow, and Franklin D. Richards were called
"to the apostleship to fill vacancies in the quorum of Twelve
occasioned by the reorganization of the First Presidency, and
the apostasy of Lyman Wight, who had been out of fellow-
ship with his brethren ever since the martyrdom, and who
had shortly afterwards gone to Texas. During the winter
preceding (1847-8), Jolm Smith presided over the Saints,
but when he was made Presiding Patriarch of the whole
Church, he was succeeded in the office of president of the
Salt Lake Stake by jDgjiLeLSpencer with David Fullmer and
Willard Snow as counselors. A high council was also or-
ganized. At a council meeting held on the 22d of February
of the same year (1849) fifteen wards were created in Salt
Lake City, with a bishop over each, four wards having al-
ready been organized. At the October conference twenty
missionaries-were called, including Apostles T^^lor, Erastiis

460 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

^nQw, Lorenzo Snow, and Richards. On the iith of March,
1854, Willard Richards died, and his place was filled by
Jedediah M. Grant. He had been one of the most useful men
in the Church, especially in a literary way. He had long
been the Church historian, and since June, 1850, had been
editor of the DeseretNews. His place in the Presidency was
filled by a man of strong and remarkable powers, though he
was not long to hold that high office, for he was called hence
in two years afterwards.

One other religious event of importance remains to be
noticed — the ,Reforiiiatiou of 1856. This was a kind of re-
vival which occurred in the Church, beginning at Salt Lake
■ and extending to the remotest branches of "Mormonism." At
a meeting held in the Social Hall, President Young laid be-
fore the brethren the necessity of conforming more strictly
to the principles of the gospel than the people generally had
hitherto done. A number of questions had been formulated
and printed on a sheet, which it was the intention to dis-
tribute among the Saints for their answers — yes or no — to
each one. Some of them were, in substance — Hif] yn|] ever
shed innocent blood? Have you ever committed adultery?
Have ^'pu ever been guilty of stealing? Did you ever bear
false witness against your neighbor ? Do you take the name
of the Lord in vain ? Do you ever become intoxicated ? Do
you respect and honor the priesthood? Have you always
taught your family the principles of right-living to the best
of your knowledge ? Do you attend to your family prayers ?
In addition, elders were sent to all parts of the territory
and distant lands preaching the Reformation, till everyone
had expressed his desire to do better or to remain as he was.
President Grant was probably the most active of those who
took a prominent part in this movement. He went from one
settlement to another preaching with indefatigable energy
and zeal till his Pf:rong" constitution broke down under the tre-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 461

niendous strain. It must not be imagined, however, that
hard and fast Hnes were laid down for the people. On the
contrary, the spirit of this work was one of charity and for-
giveness. The Saints were urged to forsake their sins, con-
fessing them to those they had wronged, and seek to improve.
There were few excommunications during this whole period
of the reformation.

CIIAITKR II.

ON TO THE SOUTH !

1 he unitorm quiet which Apostle Pratt speaks of as reigning
in the Valley was destined to be suddenly and rudely broken,
in the year 1857, by one of the most remarkable incidents in
the eventful career of the "Mormon" people.

Pioneer Day.

It was the tw'entj'-fourth of July, and a select company of
about two thousand Saints— men, w'ornen, and children —
were celebrating at the picturesque head of Big Cottonwood
canyon, twenty-five miles south and east of the city. A tem-
porary pavilion had been erected for dancing, the stars and
stripes w-aved in the mountain breezes from the highest
peaks, and brass bands had been brought along to
add to the day's enjoyment. At this particular hour of
the afternoon, the people were collected here and tliere in
groups talking mainly of the exciting times through which
they had passed in Missouri and Illinois, and of the peace
which they hoped to enjoy in their newly-found home in the
West. But even these harmless reminiscences and anticipa-
tions were to be interrupted with strange suddenness.

Four men rode into the place, and sought the presence
of President Young. Their panting steeds hinted at an un-
usual mission, and general curiosity was aroused. Could it
be that something had occurred in the city during the peo-
ple's absence ? Had a hurricane blown down their houses or
fires destroyed them ? Evidently not, for three of these men
were supposed to be in the East. Beyond all question, there-
fore, their message concerned something that had happened,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM, 463

or was still happening, on the frontiers. What was it? Long
and earnest was the secret conference between these four
men and a number of the leading brethren who had been
hastened to the council.

The people had not long to wait after the meeting broke
up. They were called together at the pavilion to hear the lat-
est news. General Wells addressed them. A United States
army, he said, was on its way to Utah to put down a rebel-
lion that existed here! A. O, Smoot, Judson, Stoddard, and.
O. P. Rockwell had just arrived with the startling intelli-
gence. There was no doubt of it, for they had seen some of
the troops and trains of provisions in Missouri. Then the
General gave instructions concerning the manner of leaving
next morning. President Young remained silent. On the
morning of the twenty-fifth, therefore, the Saints left the
canyon for their homes.

"Buchanan's Blunder."

Some time before this a man by the name of Ayilliam W.
Drummond was sent to Utah as a Federal judge. It is of
this man's antics that we must now speak, since they are
closely connected with the present story. "Leaving his wife
and family in Illinois without the means of support," says
Bancroft, "he brought with him a harlot whom he had picked
up in the streets of Washington, and introduced her as Mrs.
Drummond, seated her by his side on the judicial bench.
Gambler and bully, he openly avowed that he had come to
Utah to make money." A lady in Salt Lake, a sister of the
real Mrs. Drummond, hearing that the Judge's wife had ar-
rived in the city, paid her a visit, and of course was very
much astonished at finding a diflferent person in charge of
his household. Drummond openly insulted the community
"by mocking at their laws and institutions, and especially at
the institution of polygamy." As a result he won the ill-will

4C4 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONlSM.

of those whom he had come to judge. But he did not re-
main here long. After holding a short term of court at Car-
son, he unceremoniously departed with his graceless com-
panion, going home by way of California.

Utah, however^ w^as soon to hear of the runaway Judge.
On the 30th of March (1857) he wrote to the attorney-gen-
eral at Washington resigning his position as Territorial
judge in Utah and giving his reasons for this action. In
the first place, the "Mormons" looked to Brigham Young
alone for the law ; secondly, all the male members of the
"Mormon" Church were bound together in secret covenant
"to resist the laws of the country;" thirdly, "he was fully
aware that there was a set of men, set apart by special order
of the Church to take both the lives and property of persons
who might question the authority of the Church," whose
names he would make known "at a future time," fourthly,
the records, papers, etc., of the Supreme Court had been de-
stroyed by order of the Church, and the Federal oflficers
grossly insulted for presuming to raise a single question
about the treasonable act;" fifthly, that the Federal officers
there were "constantly insulted, harassed, and annoyed by
the Mormons," for which insults there was no redress ; sixth-
ly, that the Federal officers were "daily compelled to hear the
forms of the American Government traduced, the chief ex-
ecutives of the nation, living and dead, slandered and abused,
in the most vulgar, loathsome, and wicked manner." These
were followed by details of alleged "Mormon" disloyalty.

This communication to the attorney-general had been
most suitably introduced by a letter from a man here by the
name of Magraw, a non-"Mormon" who had been the head
of the mail service, addressed to the President of the United
States, in which he dilated upon the heroism and self-sacrifice
required to live among or deal with the "Mormons" on ac-
count of their disrespect for Gentile law, life, and property.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 466

That these charges were pure fabrications it is perhaps
needless to say, in view of what we already know of the peo-
ple thus basely slandered by those who associated with them
from no other motive than gain. This second communica-
tion was inspired by revenge for not obtaining a renewal of
the contract to carry the mails from Independence, Missouri,
to Salt Lake City ; the other, by the social ostracism which
had been justly meted out to the Judge as soon as it was
known that he was living with a woman who was not his
wife. Drummond's charges were refuted by Mr. Curtis E.
Bolton, deputy clerk of the Supreme Court of Utah, in a let-
ter to the President.

The President's duty in this matter was, plainly enough,
to send out a commission to inquire into the charges made
against the "Mormons," as he had recently done in the Kan-
sas troubles. But for some secret reason — most probably to
take as many of the Northern troops as far away as possi-
ble from the scene of conflict which he saw to be approaching
— he chose to do otherwise, to send an army of nearly twen-
ty-five hundred men to suppress a rebellion that did not ex-
ist. And what is more, the movements of the army were
studiously kept from the ears of the "Mormons." On the
frontiers the soldiers were provisioned for the journey of
more than fifteen hundred miles. It was the work involved
in fitting out on the frontiers this body of troops, and the re-
fusal of the postal officials at Independence to give up the
mails to the regular carriers, that gave the first suspicions to
A. O. Smoot and others from the Valley concerning the pro-
posed expedition against the "Mormons."

And so the United States troops, in charge of Cej^eral
Harney, were marching to Utah. "I am ordered there," said
this determined leader, "and I will winter in the valley or in
hell !" But he did not "winter in the Valley," he was sent

for presently to take hi? former post in Kansas, and Colonel
80

466 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Johnston was sent west to assume command of his forces.
Between the time when liarney left and the time when
Johnston arrived, they were in charge of Colonel Alexander,
who was in total ignorance of the general purpose of the ex-
pedition.

Meantime, the army was approaching its destination.
They found the ^rass burned all along their route, and, be-
sides, the "Mormons" worried their trains on every hand,
driving off their cattle and even burning their wagons and
provisions. Moreover, the snow was beginning to fall and
the cold to set in ; they would have to seek winter quarters.
When Johnston reached South Pass, he ordered the troops
to proceed to Fontenelle Creek, where there was abundant
pasture. Later they were ordered to Fort Bridger, where
they improvised tents for the winter. They discovered them-
selves to be poorly enough provisioned, the quartermaster
having packed the wagons, at Fort Leavenworth, "with such
goods as were at hand, taking no trouble to procure for them
their due proportion of other stores." Most of their beef
cattle had been run off. Hence they suffered "privations no
less severe than those endured at Valley Forge eighty-one
years before."

In the latter part of June, 1858, Johnston's army
marched into Salt Lake. But it was a dead city through
which they passed. The houses were deserted ; the barns and
granaries were empty; the fruit liunp: ripening on the trees;
the water ran rippling down the street gutters ; there was no
sign of life anywhere ; not a dog barked, not a sound was
heard, save the regular tramp of the soldiery. On went the
troops, awestricken at the sight, till they got far beyond the
dead city, encamping on the Jordan.

A Strange Exodus.

What had become of the "Mormon" people who so recently

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 467

had occupied their flourishing settlements, and taken such
joy in the permanency of their home?

News of the army marching against them had caused
great consternation among the Saints. There arose in their
minds visions of those days at Far West when they first dis-
covered that an army of two thousand mob-mihtia was com-
ing upon them, and also of those last days of Nauvoo when
Reverend Brockman and his band of "Regulators" pounced
upon the unhappy remnants. Was this to be a repetition of
those hideous and never-to-be-forgotten scenes ? Manifestly.
But it should not be. "We have transgressed no law," said
President Young at a public meeting, "neither do we intend
to do so ; but as for any nation coming to destroy this people,
God Almighty being my helper, it shall not be." And in an-
other discourse, he said : "I am not going to permit troops
here for the protection of the priests and the rabble in their

efforts to drive us from the land we possess Before

I will again suffer as I have in times gone by, there shall not
one building, nor one foot of lumber, nor a fence, nor a tree,
nor a particle of grass or hay that will burn be left in reach
of our enemies. I am sworn, if driven to extremity, to ut-
terly waste this land in the name of Israel's God, and our
enemies shall find it as barren as when we came here."

Before judging this apparently defiant attitude of Brig-
ham Young and the "Mormons," let us recall the whole situ-
ation. The Saints knew that they were innocent of the
charges made against them. They knew that the life and
property of the Gentiles among them were as safe as else-
where. They knew that no people regarded more sacredly
the laws and government of the nation than they did. They
knew that the records of the Supreme Court of the Territory
had not been burned. They knew, therefore, that Drum-
mond and Magraw had deliberately and wantonly lied about
them. More than that. They were aware that public senti-

468 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

ment in the East was being fanned into a perfect conflagra-
tion by these and other gross faJsehoods sent from Utah.
Stephen A. Douglas, the one-time friend of the "Mormon"
people, seeking to win popularity enough at the expense of
those who had done him many favors, to hoist him into the
presidential chair, styled "Mormonism" a "loathsome ulcer
on the body politic" and urged Congress to apply the knife
to the "disgusting ulcer." Knowing how strong was the
popular feeling, and how baseless were the clamors against
them, can it be wondered that a body of Anglo-Saxons would
take such a stand as the "Mormons" did ? What other atti-
tude could they possibly assume and retain their spirit and
honor ?

The first point, then, was that the army was not to enter
the valley. Harney might "winter in hell" if he chose, but
he should not be permitted to do so in Utah. Nor was Brig-
ham Young overstepping his authority in taking this stand.
He was Governor of the Territory, and he had not received
official notification of the army's coming. For aught he
knew, therefore, it was a body of foreign troops invading the
dominion of the United States. And it was his duty to pre-
vent such a threatened invasion. As soon as this point was
settled, General Wells with portions of the Nauvoo Legion,
which numbered between four and five thousand men, was
ordered to Echo canyon, a long, narrow defile with high
precipitous walls, to prevent the entrance into Salt Lake val-
ley. This place was carefully fortified and guarded; parties
under Lot Smith were despatched to harry the wagons and
advance troops. They were instructed to burn the grass in
front of the army, to drive ofif the cattle, to worry the camps
at night, and, in short, to do anything to impede the progress
of the army except to shed blood. They were explicitly giv-
en to understand that this, so far as the "Mormons" were
concerned, should be an entirely "bloodless campaign." Lot

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 469

Smith did as he was instructed. Once he set fire to three
trains of suppHes, and on another occasion brought into the
valley a herd of about five hundred beef cattle. Even the
provisions and quarters at Fort Bridger were destroyed ; so
that the army found their winter quarters worse than it
would otherwise have been.

But it should be understood, however, that efforts had
been made to secure entrance into the valley by peaceable
means. General Harney had delegated Captain Van Vliet to
go to Salt Lake City to ascertain whether forage and fuel
could be purchased. He was well-received by President
Young with whom and a number of other leading "Mor-
mons," he had a long conference. The President explained
the whole situation to the Captain. "The governor informed
me," said-Captain Van Vliet in his official report, "that there
was abundance of everything I required for the troops, such
as lumber, forage, etc., but that none would be sold to us."
The Captain told the brethren what would be the result of
such a course — this army might be destroyed, but a larger one
would come and annihilate the people. "We are aware," was
the calm reply, "that such will be the case ; but when those
troops arrive, they will find Utah a desert." He had attended
a public meeting in the Tabernacle, at which over four thou-
sand people voted to apply the torch to their homes, if neces-
sary. And the troops, as we have seen, took up winter quar-
ters at Fort Bridger.

By the next spring, a reaction began to appear in the
Eastern sentiment against the "Mormons," and President
Buchanan's eyes commenced to open to his gigantic blunder.
Colonel Thomas L. Kane arrived in Salt Lake City in Feb-
ruary, having come by way of California. In any guise and
on any mission the kind-hearted Colonel would have been
gladly welcomed by the Saints; but he was twice welcome
now for his mission was to bring about a peaceable settle-

470 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

ment of the difficulties. Without entering into details, we
may say that he accomplished his purpose admirably. One
of the objects of the expedition was to install a new governor
in the person of Alfred Gumming. Upon visiting the camps
of the army, Cglonel Kane induced Governor Gumming to
accompany him to the City. The latter did so, and was wel-
comed by President Young and the whole people. "I have
everywhere been recognized as Governor of Utah," said Mr.
Gumming in a communication to General Johnston, a few
days after his arrival in Salt Lake ; "and, so far from having
encountered insults or indignities, I am gratified in being
able to state to you that, in passing through the settlements,
I have been universally greeted with such respectful atten-
tions as are due to the representative authority of the United
States in the Territory." Subsequently, the Governor de-
clared that he had examined the records of the Supreme and
Districts courts and found them "perfect and unimpaired."

President Young did not now object to the troops pass-
ing through the city. It was decided that they should march
to a point beyond, where they would be likely to do no mis-
chief. But the original purpose of migrating south was not
abandoned. Governor Gumming exerted his influence to the
utmost to induce President Young not to move his people ;
but the suspicious Brigham remained unalterable, and prep-
arations for the burning went on. "There is no longer any
danger," said the kindly Governor; "General Johnston and
his army will keep faith with you." "We know all about it,
Governor," was the reply of President Young. "We have on
just such occasions seen our disarmed men hewn down in
cold blood, our virgin daughters violated, our wives rav-
ished to death before our eyes. We know all about it !" To
the commissioners appointed by President Buchanan — they
had come with a pardon for the "Mormon" people! — Brig-
ham had said : "Before the troops reach here, this city will

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 471

be in ashes, every tree and shrub will be cut to the ground,
and every blade of grass that will burn shall be burned. Our
wives and children will go to the canyons, and take shelter

in the mountains No mob can live in the homes

we have built.''

And so it would have been at the slightest hint of depre-
dations on the part of the army on their march. Before the
26th of June, the people had deserted all the northern set-
tlements. All the provisions that they did not need, they
cached securely. For many days an almost continuous train
of wagons might have been seen going southward. No one
seemed to know where he was going ; but "On to the South !"
was the universal cry. There was great suffering entailed in
this unfortunate move. Many were indigent. We read of
poorly-dressed and bare footed men, women, and children.
It rained almost incessantly the while. Those who had more
than one family to move, had to make several trips from
Provo to Salt Lake ; and those who had no means of going
alone went with their neighbors. But go they did, in obedi-
ence to the command of their leader, and, as they thought, to
preserve their own lives. Only enough men were left in the
settlements to set fire to the houses. The old folks still point
to the places in and around their premises where straw and
other combustible material was thrown down ready for the
torch that would make them homeless. One false move,
therefore, on the part of the army would have brought on
simultaneously mighty conflagrations in all the settlements
in and north of the City. This is how the troops when they
entered the valley found Salt Lake deserted.

When the army had got to a safe distance, the people
returned to their homes, and went about their business, with-
out realizing that they had just lived through a period, which,
for dramatic and sublime elements, can scarcely be paral-
leled in the history of any people.

472 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

But even out of this evil some good was eventually to
come. Remaining three days on the banks of the Jordan, the
troops pushed on to Cedar valley, where a site had been
chosen. At this place, which was called Camp Floyd, they
remained till they were called to fight in the real rebellion,
the conflict between the North and the South. It is curious
to note that General Johnston died in a struggle against the
country which he came to Utah ostensibly to defend. In the vi-
cinity of the Camp, for many miles, the farmers were amply
repaid for the presence of the troops. Many of these latter
were poor, and this opportunity to dispose of the products of
their farms at high prices was greatly beneficial to them. In
addition to this, when the army left, large quantities of cloth-
ing, blankets, etc., were sold at low prices. But the presence
of the troops was to cost Salt Lake dearly enough in the host
of camp followers that drank, fought, and killed each other
in the city.

CHAPTER III.

A "'fly" in the national ointment.

The doctrine of "Mormonism" that has attracted the widest
pubHc attention, and, strangely enough, the one that has been
the least understood, and most grossly misrepresented, is
what is known among the Saints as Celestial Marriage, in-
cluding a plurality of wives, and among non-"Mormons" as
Polygamy. We do not intend in this chapter to make a«» ar-
gument for this tenet, but merely to state the facts in the case,
without which the remaining parts of the book cannot be
readily comprehended.

The Origin of American "Polygamy."

At a special conference of the Church held at Salt Lake City,
August 28th and 29th, 1852, the first public announcement of
the doctrine was made. The revelation contained in the Doc-
trine and Covenants (section 132) was read, and a discourse
delivered by Apostle Orson Pratt. The revelation was then
published in pamphlet form and widely distributed through-
out the United States. At the same time missionaries were
sent abroad to proclaim the peculiar tenets of "Mormonism,"
not excluding this doctrine.

But this was by no means the beginning of plural mar-
riage among the Saints. As early jasj^^^^i, while Joseph was
"translating" the Scriptures, he received a revelation on the
subject, in answer to his inquiries as to why the Lord justi-
fied Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, and Solomon in having
"many wives and concubines." But the Prophet at the time
said nothing about the doctrine to his people, outside of one
or two of his most intimate associates, so violently did it

474 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

clash with modern notions respecting the domestic relations.
However, at Nauvoo, he was again commanded to teach and
practice the principle. He appears to have hesitated, as well /
^ he might ; whereupon an angel with drawn sword appeared ^
(^ before him and told him that he should be destroyed unless;
\ he did as he was commanded in the matter. From that time'
on till his martyrdom, we find him teaching the principle tci
his friends — those whom he thought he could trust. And not
only did he teach it, but he practiced it, marrying several wo-
men according to the celestial order, and counseling his
brethren to do the same. Some time in July, 1843^ ^ P^^t ^^
the revelation was written and read to the high council by
Hyrum Smjtlu^H of whom, except two or three, received it
as true doctrine. Among those whom the Prophet had sealed
to him for time and eternity were Eliza R. Snow, Sarah Ann
Whitney, Helen Majt,J^j£oiiall, and Lucy Walker. A num-
ber of the other leading brethren of the Church also entered
into the practice.

All this, of course, was not public at the time, for it
would have been thought by most of the Saints themselves
as_graye immorality, and would probably have brought about
Joseph's immediate death. As it was, his martyrdom at Car-
thage was due in some measure to the antagonism which this
principle had aroused among the apostates at Nauvoo. But
these facts are so well authenticated that no one at all ac-
quainted with the history of the Church can deny them, ex-
cept, indeed, those whose interest it is to hide the truth.
Those who wish to verify these facts can do so by reading
(Historical Record, pp. 219-2^) the numerous affidavits by
several of the Prophet's wives and those also of the brethren
who were taught the doctrine byJ[oseph himself.

The substance of this revelation on marriage — "the new
and everlasting covenant" — is as follows. After instructing
Joseph "to prepare his heart to receive and obey this law, it

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 4'J'6

goes on to say that "all covenants, contracts, bonds, obliga-
tions, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations,
or expectations" that are not entered into and sealed "by the
Holy Spirit of promise" through him who has the authority
to do so, "are of no efficacy, virtue, or force, in and after the
resurrection from the dead." This is a law upon which is
predicated entrance to God's glory ; and "all those who have
this law revealed unto them must obey the same," otherwise
they are damned. "Whatsoever things remain are by me,"
said the Lord, "and whatsoever things are not by me, shall be
shaken and destroyed." This applied to marriage means that
"if a man marry a wife in the world," by any authority other
than God's, "the covenant and marriage are not of force
when they are dead." And in the other world the parties
thereto shall be as the angels, ministers to those worthy of a
higher degree of glory, but who did not obey the law by
which they might be "enlarged." If, on the contrary, a man
marry a wife according to this "new and everlasting cove-
nant," the parties thereto, unless they shed innocent blood,
"shall pass by the angels, and the Gods, which are set there,
to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed
upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a con-
tinuation of the seeds for ever and ever." The revelation
then goes on to speak of the promise given unto Abraham
according to which his seed was to become as numerous as
the sands on the sea shore; part of which was fulfilled in
Sarah's giving Hagar to the Patriarch. Abraham received
concubines, who bore him children, "and it was accounted
unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto
him, and he abode in my law." So with the other men of God
"from the creation until this time," "in nothing, did they sin,
save in., iho^jjivngs zvhich they received not of me." Then
follow the laws regulating adultery. "If any man espouse
a virgin," is the passage authorizing plural marriage in this

476 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

dispensation, "and desire to espouse another, and the first
give her consent; and if he espouse the second, and they are
virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then he is justified ;
he cannot commit adultery, for they are given unto him ; and
if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he is justi-
fied."

Two or three words of comment on this revelation are
necessary by way of correcting some wrong notions that pre-
vail respecting the doctrines it teaches. In the first place,
the principle of plural marriage is not the only, in fact not
the main, one advanced here. It is comparatively incidental,
if we may so speak. On the contrary, the principal topic is
the eternity of the marriage covenant when "entered into,
and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise." The common idea
entertained by the whole Christian world is, that marriage
is something pertaining only to this world of sin — that it is,
in fact, a kind of temporary arrangement in human society,
to be no longer known or recognized after death. Hence,
this new law of "Mormonism" is somewhat revolutionary
aside from the view taken of plurality of wives. The rela-
tion of the sexes is sacred, next to life itself, and will never
be regarded as a low, temporary, human make-shift,
when the ties are formed by the authority of the priesthood.
In the next place, it is by reason of this revelation, and not
because the practice was legalized by the Lord in ancient
times, that the "Mormons" have entered into this order of
marriage — the plurality of wives. It is true that the Saints
have frequently referred to the Old Testament as sanctioning
this doctrine, but they have done so merely to show that,
since God approved the practice anciently, it cannot be wrong
now, notwithstanding the ideas to the contrary that prevail
today in civilized, "Christian" nations. Thirdly, this law of
plural marriage is not obligatory upon the members of the
Church generally, much less is it synonymous with "Mor-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 477

monism" itself, as most people seem to think. On the con-
trary, it commands only one person to obey it— Joseph
Smjth; others must do so when it is "reveaje.d" to them.
Nevertheless, the law authorized the general practice of this
form of marriage, under the regulations prescribed. This
much it is necessary to say, in view of the misinterpretations
put upon this revelation by anti-"Mormons."

"Mormon" Plurality of Wives.

To most people the word "polygamy" — which for this rea-
son, the Saints disclaim as a designation of their marriage
system — is synonymous with unbridled lust, licentiousness,
sensuality. It conjures up in their minds all the evils of the
oriental harem — something that destroys the romance of
love, that strikes at the sanctity of the home, that degrades
man and woman to the level of the beasts ; and so on to the
end of the vocabulary of crime and degeneration and moral
decay. This conception the world, hearing the term used in
connection with "Mormonism," have, perhaps naturally and
innocently enough, loaded upon this religion ; and they have
been encouraged in their misapprehension by cunning priests
and political demagogues, who have had a private motive to
serve by falsehood and deceit, or who, to view the matter
more charitably, have possessed a surplus of fanatical energy
which they have woefully misdirected. The unfortunate
result has been a general ignorance concerning both the
practice and the motives of the "Mormon" people in this re-
spect. Magazine articles, books, and cartoons, reeking with
such impurity and filth as would subject the authors and pub-
lishers to speedy punishment under the laws regulating
printed matter if they were to appear in any other cause,
have been distributed throughout Europe and the United
States as accurate representations of "Mormon" polygamy —
the manner of selecting wives, the domestic relations, and

478 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the rest. Most of these are too shocking to be more than re-
ferred to in any work having the remotest claims to decency.

Such, however, is not the "Mormon" idea of plural
marriage. It is true that much could be pointed out in the
practice of this principle, which is repulsive to a cultivated
taste and refinement — repulsive to the natural feelings of the
heart. Some men have, no doubt, obeyed this law with no
higher object than self-gratification ; and their domestic re-
lations have been correspondingly violative of the general
laws that should control the holy sacrament of marriage.
This much any "Mormon" will admit. But what the Saints
have always objected to is the practice of holding up this
phase of "polygamy," which none would more quickly and
thoroughly condemn than the "Mormons" themselves, as the
legitimate fruits of plural marriage in Utah, and of deliber-
ately suppressing the other and approved side. This on its
face is dishonest, and yet it is repeatedly done to this day. On
this principle, all the broken vows, the wife-beating, the de-
sertions, and the general infelicities of monogamy might be
pointed to as the proper fruitage of marriage with a single
wife. But this, as everyone must concede, would be unjust.
The fact is, that unhappiness in the marital relations is the
result of the individual temper and passions of the men and
women who enter married life, not of the principle of mar-
riage, monogamic or polygamic. Principles, like men, must
be judged by their highest possibilities. And viewed in this
light plural marriage will bear investigation.

It cannot be shown that "polygamy" originated in a low
impulse. On the contrary, an examination of the facts con-
nected with its introduction reveals the purest and highest
motive, connected with no small degree of courage and hero-
ism. We have already seen that the Prophet kept the secret
buried in his bosom for more than ten years. He cleajly
foresaw the result of his revelation upon the strong and fixed

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 479

prejudices of the age, and delayed it as long as he could
without danger to his prophetic claims. And when he did
make it known, all who had not been specially prepared for
its reception by the Holy Spirit, were shocked inexpressibly
by his words. This is true of both men and women, and
shows that the class of people whom he had collected to-
gether had no such loose ideas of morality as their enemies
have charged them with holding. The majority of them
were strong, independent souls, who must be convinced both
in mind and heart that a doctrine was true, before they
would accept it, and who after they did receive it would re-
fuse to relinquish it no matter at what cost to themselves.
Of the conduct of two or three of those who were ap-
proached on the subject by Joseph, we have a record. ^Ben-
jamin F. Johnson says that he was greatly astonished when
the Prophet disclosed the matter to him during a private
walk. "I sincerely believed him," he says, "to be a Prophet
of God, and I loved him as such, and also for the many evi-
dences of his kindness to me; yet such was the force of my
education, and the scorn that I felt towards anything unvir-
tuous, that under the first impulse of my feelings, I looked
him calmly, but firmly in the face and told him that I had al-
ways believed him to be a good man and wished to believe it
still and would try to, and that I would take for him a mes-
sage to my sister [Joseph had asked for her hand in mar-
riage] , and if the doctrine was true, all would be well, but if
I should afterwards learn that it was ofifered to insult or
prostitute my sister, I would take his life." He was con-
vinced afterwards, by a divine manifestation, that the prin-
ciple was true. Apostle John Taylor says with regard to the
time when the matter was laid before the Twelve: "I had
always entertained strict ideas of virtue, and I felt as a mar-
ried man that this was to me, outside of this principle, an ap-
palling thing to do. The idea of going and asking a young

480 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM,

lady to be married to me when I had already a wife ! It was
a thing calculated to stir up feelings from the innermost
depths of the human soul. Nothing but a knowledge of God,
and the revelations of God, and the truth of them, could
have induced me to embrace such a principle as this." And
he and the rest of the Apostles put off the "evil day" as long
as they could. Heber C. Kimball was requested three times
by the Prophet" "to go and take a certain woman as his
wife," but he did not obey till he was commanded to do so
in the name of the Lord. "My father realized the situation
fully," says his daughter Helen Mar, "and the love and rev-
erence he bore for the Prophet were so great that he would
sooner have laid down his life than have betrayed him. This
was one of the greatest tests of his faith he had ever experi-
enced He became sick in body, but his mental

wretchedness was too great to allow of his retiring, and he
would walk the floor till nearly morning and sometimes the
agony of his mind was so terrible that he would wring his
hands and weep like a child, and beseech the Lord to be
merciful." No; there is nothing more groundless than the
supposition that this doctrine of plural marriage originated
in a low motive. With the great majority of those who em-
braced this doctrine, it was a sacred religious obligation,
which, though it would inevitably bring down upon them
the wrath and opposition of the world, must be sacredly ob-
served.

And this motive resulted in a practice as far removed
from the conceptions of the average non-"Mormon" as the
poles are asunder. The consent of the first wife was sought,
and in most cases obtained, before the second ceremony was
performed. Indeed, many instances might be pointed out
where she made all the necessary preliminary arrangements
with the woman whom she wished to become her co-help-
mate. In some cases, the wives occupied different houses,

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 481

and the husband's time would be divided equally between
them, in others, they would live in the same house. Theo-
retically they were equal ; no social stigma was attached to
the plural wife or her children ; she mingled as freely as the
first in society, and no distinction was made between their
children. Lorenzo Snow, at_ Nauvoo^ married fotir wives
with the understanding that they were all equal, and that he
might acknowledge any one of them publicly should circum-
stances require him to do so. That there arose jealousies and
misunderstandings in some polygamic families is very likely
true, but the good Latter-day Saint sought most earnestly
and prayerfully to do right in the matter. But the average
^'polygamous" family in general was as free from jars and
disquieting troubles as the average monogamic family, and
had as much genuine happiness within its precincts. The
cost of living, of course, was increased proportionately to the
number of wives ; but, generally speaking, no one embraced
this principle without knowing beforehand that he could af- C
ford it. At most only three or four per cent of the male
membership of the Church ever embraced this order at any
time. But some of these had more than two wives. This
matter of increased expense attached to having more than
one family at a time, also speaks forcibly against the state-
ment that sensualism was the inspiring motive of the system.
How perfectly insane would be this method of marriage on
the hypothesis that "Mormon" polygamists were licentious.
Immorality would have sought an easier method to gratify
itr, appetite — that, namely, of the world in general.

Legal Enactments.

Nevertheless, "polygamy," as we shall frequently have occa-
sion to note, was to be made the pretext for a long and bit-
ter fight against the adherents of the "Mormon" faith. For
many years — from the time in fact, of its first public an-

482 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

nouncement in i8c;2 to the present — a secret clique of un-
scrupulous anti-"]\Iormons" in Utah, by the most infamous
methods, were to play upon the religious and political preju-
dices of the Nation, till Congress was induced to pass law
after law for the purpose of bringing this doctrine of plural
marriage to an end, if not to accomplish the destruction of
the "Mormon" Church.

The first of these was the law of 1862. It provided that
"every person having a husband or wife living? who shall
marry any other person, whether married or single, in a Ter-
ritory of the United States, or other place over which the

United States have exclusive jurisdiction, shall be

adjudgecL^uilty- of bigamy, and. upon conviction thereof,
shall be punished by a fine of not exceeding five hundred dol-
lars, and by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five
years." Another section disincorporated the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints and made it unlawful for any
"association for religious or charitable purposes to acquire
or hold real estate" to the extent of more than fifty thousand
dollars. But the law remained a dead letter on the national
statute books for twenty years. President Young was ar-
rested in the following year, but not convicted, for lack of
evidence. It is curious, but somewhat edifying, to note that
while the provision for disincorporating the Church was un-
der discussion, one senator objected to reducing the amount
of property that a charitable or religious organization might
hold from one hundred thousand dollars to fifty thousand
dollars, until it could be ascertained whether this would af-
fect the interests of the Catholic Missions in California.
And, singularly enough, its passage was postponed till he
could satisfy himself on the point.

It should be stated here that the Saints always regarded
this law as unconstitutional ; and many of the leading breth-
ren were anxious to have it tested, believing that the courts

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 483

would SO decide. Accordingly, in 187^;. a test case was fur-
nished in the person of Elder r,e<^rf;e Re\"nulds, who was
then a young" man of thirty-two years, f Ia\ing married his
second wife in 1874, his case came, clearly enough, under the
law. The trial, at which he supplied all the evidence neces-
sary for his conviction, resulted in his being sentenced to a
fin£_Qf five hundred dollars and imprisonment for two years
at hard labor. In November. 1879, the Supreme Court of
the United States reaffirmed the decisions of the inferior
courts, th'iis declaring the law of iS^axonstitutional-.

In the Congressional session of 1860-70, an anti-"polyg-
amy" bill was introduced into the national legislature, which,
though it never became law, created a great sensation in
Utah, by reason of its outrageous provisions. One section,
for instance, gave the Governor the sole power to appoint all
the officers of the Territory ; aiiuiligf abolished trial bv jurv
in certain cases ; and a third demanded that the President of
the Church make detailed reports to the Governor, of all the
Church receipts and disbursements. It should be said, how-
ever, that a number of modifications were made before it was
finally voted down. But the eflfect on the Saints was start-
ling, as it revealed to them, in part, the animus tiiat ultimate-
ly secured laws only a degree less harsh than this proposed
measure. "In reading this bill," said the editor of the Des-
crct Kcws — George O. Cannon — -"indignation overmasters
every other feeling. We examine our skins, they are white.
\\'e look at the people around us, their lineaments proclaim
their Anglo-Saxon descent. We listen to their speech — it is
the language of freedom, the language in which Shake-
speare, Milton, and Thomas Jefferson wrote — the lang"uage
in which Patrick Henry, Adams, Lee, and a host of other
patriots clothed their immortal ideas. We look at our moun-
tains ; though their summits are covered with eternal snow,
they are not Siberia. The valleys they encircle are the

484 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

abodes of a free people — American citizens, many of whose
fathers fought and died for Hberty, and taught their sons its
accents — not serfs whose Hves and fortunes are at the dis-
posal of an autocrat." But fortunately the bill did not be-
come a law.

One other measure we shall merely refer to in this
place — the Edmonds-Tucker Act, — which we shall consider
in detail in another chapter. The Edmonds bill became a
law in 1882, which, though immeasurably harsh, was rein-
forced, ini^82;^by a more exacting act, the Edmonds-Tucker
law. But the Saints, viewing these as violative of the fun-
damental provisions of the national Constitution respecting
the freedom of conscience, suffered heroically till ^890,
when their own action turned tHe tide of their afflictions.

In this last named year President Wilford Woodruff is-
sued his so-called "Manifesto," which was sustained by the
whole body of Latter-day Saints. After denying certain
charges to the effect that plural marriages were still being
solemnized by the Church, the Declaration went on to say
that "inasmuch as laws have been enacted by Congress for-
bidding plural marriages, which laws have been pronounced
constitutional by the court of the last resort, I [Wilford
Woodruff] hereby declare my intention to submit to those
laws, and to use my influence with the members of the
Church over which I preside to do likewise." This brought
"polygamy" to an end among the "Mormons," so far as the
formation of new ties in plural marriage was concerned. ^

CHAPTER IV.

A LONG WAIT FOR THE CROWN.

The first form of government in Utah was what may be
termed the theocratic, followed by the short-hved provisional
State of Deseret, which was succeeded by the Territory,
which, in turn, finally gave way to Statehood. This last
honor was denied Utah on account of her peculiar religion,
or, more specifically, the unusual domestic relations of her
people.

The State of Deseret.

From July 24th, 1847, to March, .1849, the peopfc were un-
der ecclesiastical control. The entire population of Salt Lake
Valley and of other places where settlements had been made,
was "Mormon," with the exception of a very few persons
who had come with relatives belonging to the Church.
Moreover, the first work of the people, as we have seen, was
to wrest a subsistence from the soil. Besides, everyone was
looked after as well as, if not better than, he could have been
under a civil government; and since the prevailing ecclesi-
astical control was obnoxious to no one, there was no imme-
diate call for a change. If any difficulty arose, it was settled
in the bishop's court, the high council, or by the First Presi-
dency. No distinction appears to have been drawn between
.,the spiritual and the temporal jurisdiction of these author-
ities.

But when the gold fields of California increased the pro-
portion of Gentiles, though this was more or less temporary,
it was found desirable to segregate the civil from the re-
ligious. Accordingly, on the 8th of March, 184^, a conven-

486 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

tion was held, at which a constitution for the proposedLState
of Deseret was formed. The customary division of govern-
mental powers into legislative, executive, and judicial, was
followed. The seat of the new government was to be Salt
Lake City. There were to be two houses of the legislature,
a senate and a house of representatives, w'ith an annual ses-
sion on the first Monday in December. There were to be a
governor, a lieutenant-governor, a secretary of state, an audi-
tor, and a treasurer. The first two were to be elected for four
years, the second officer to be the ex^o^Mcip. president of the
senate. The judicial powers were to be vested in a supreme
court with such other inferior tribunals as might be estab-
lished by the legislature.

On the. I2lli-of-lliis. month the following ticket was elect-
ed under the new Provisional Government of the State of
Deseret : nnvernor, Rrip^liam Young ; secretary ,Willard Rich-
ards; treasurer, Newel K. Whitney; chief justice, Heber C.
Kimball ; associate justices, John Taylor and Newel K.
Whitney ; attorney general, Daniel H. \\^ells ; marshal, Hor-
ace S. Eldredge ; assessor and collector, Albert Carrington ;
surveyor of highways, Joseph L. Hcywood. The bishops of
thewards w^ere chosen magistrates.

In July following a special session of the legislature was
called. Almon W. Babbit was chosen Delegate to Congress,
for it had been decided to petition the national legislature to
admit the new State into the Union. He carried with him to
Washington a memorial asking for admission, and also for
Congressional recognition of himself as delegate. But when
these matters were presented to the lawmakers at the Capital,
they were unable to see them in the same light. A committee
to which the memorial was referred reported that it would
be inexpedient to grant it, for the reason, among others, that
"the memorialist comes as the representative of a State ; but
of a State not of the Union, and therefore not entitled to a

ONE IIUNDRKD YEARS OF MORMONISM. 487

represcnation here ; the achnission of Mr. Babbit would be a
quasi recoguition of the legal existence of the State of Des-
eret; and no act should be done by this house which, even
by implication, may give force and vitality to a political or-
ganization extra-constitutional, and independent of the laws
of the United States." But seeing the need of some form
of government for the "Mormons," the Washington author-
ities began considering the advisability of a territorial organ-
ization, which was soon effected.

A Territorial Blight.

In September, 1850, after several months' delay, the Senate
passed a bill providing for the organization of the Territory
of Utali. The new officials were: Qovernor, Brigham
Young; secretary, B. D. Harris, of Vermont; chief justice,
Lemuel G. Brandebury, of Pennsylvania ; associate justices.
Perry C. Brocchus, of Alabama, and Zerubbabel Snow ; at-
torney, Seth M. Blair ; and marshal, Joseph L. Heywood. Of
these, besides the Governor, Blair, Heywood, and Snow were
"Morinons." News of the creation of the new government
did not reach Deseret till January, 1851, In April of that
year the change went into effect. The population of the ter-
ritory was ascertained as eleven thousand three hundred
fifty-four. In August, Dr. John M. Bernhisel, a man of good
education and general culture, was elected Delegate to Con-
gress.

Some time in July, of this year, the Federal officials
came; and here began the friction between "Mormons" and
Gentiles in Utah, which was to continue for many years.
They were well received by the people, a ball and supper be-
ing given in honor of Justice Brandebury and Secretary Har-
ris, who were the first to arrive. The latter brought with
him /orty-four thousand dollars to defray the expenses of
the legislature and to erect a public building. "Had they

488 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

been men of ability and discretion," remarks Bancroft in bis
History of Utah, "content to discharge their duty without
interfering- with the social and religious peculiarities of the
people, all would have been well; but such was not their
character or policy. Judge Brocchus especially was a vain
and ambitious man, full of self-importance, fond of intrigue,
corrupt, revengeful, hypocritical."

Soon, however, Brocchus announced his determination to
return to the East. The probable cause of his discontent was
that Dr. Bernhisel had obtained the plum — the Congressional
office — which he coveted for himself. The others, too, in-
fluenced by the Judge, became dissatisfied. They could not
live, they hinted, on such a small salary as they were receiv-
ing. A petition, numerously signed and including Brigham
Young's name, was forthwith hastened to Washington ask-
ing that the salaries of these men be increased. Still they
were disgruntled, especially Brocchus. Before leaving, he
secured the privilege of addressing the "Mormons" at a gen-
eral conference, on a matter pertaining to the Washington
Monument Fund. "It is a religious meeting," said President
Young, "I suppose you are av^^are; but I wish well to your
cause." At the conference, which was that year held in Sep-
tember, Judge Brocchus was "respectfully and honorably in-
troduced," as he himself confessed, by President Young.
He touched a variety of topics — sorrow for the past "Mor-
mon" calamities ; his own virtues and high qualification for
office ; Revolutionary and other heroes, among whom he in-
cluded Zachary Taylor, deceased, whom President Young,
he complained, had announced to be now an inhabitant of
Tophet ; the disqualifications of Governor Young for his
office ; the need of party divisions in Utah ; and many others.
The patience of his audience giving out toward the end, he
fell into berating them. "The Mormons were disloyal" —
which remark was met by hisses from the female part of his

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 489

congregation. "This reminds me," he said, addressing the
ladies, "that I have a commission from the Washington
Monument Association to ask of you a block of marble as the
test of your loyalty to the government of the United States.
But in order for you to do it acceptibly, you must become
virtuous, and teach your daughters to become virtuous, or
your offering had better remain in the bosom of your native
mountains."

"A spontaneous outburst of public indignation" was the
result, and the speaker was unable to make himself heard.
The people, rising, cried for President Young, who there-
upon took the stand, and made a reply in his characteristic,
straightforward manner. But for the man's office, he said,
he would not consider him worth answering. "You stand
there now," he went on, "white and shaking, at the hornet's
nest you have stirred up — you are a coward, and that is why
you have cause to praise men that are not and why
you praise Zachary Taylor." He repeated his assertion that
Taylor was in Hades, whereupon Brocchus jumped up pro-
testing angrily. But Heber C. Kimball, touching him lightly
on the shoulder, told him he need have no doubt about it, as
he would see when he got there ! "You talk of things you
have on hearsay," Brigham went on. "Til talk of hearsay
then — the hearsay that you are discontented, and will go
home, because we cannot make it worth your while to stay.
What it would satisfy you to get out of us, I think it would
be hard to tell ; but I am sure it is more than you'll get. Go
home to mammy, straightway, and the sooner the better."

After this, Brocchus was given an opportunity to apolo-
gize, but he declared that what he intended to say he did say,
though he "designed to offer no insult" to his audience ! His
speech he said, "in all its parts, was the result of deliberation
and care — not proceeding from a heated imagination, or a
maddened impulse, as seems to have been the general im-

490 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

prcssion." I'.ut he did not apolog-izc because of the admitted
impossibihty of smoothing matters over; though he subse-
quently asked the Governor to do so for him. Not long
afterwards, lie and his discontented colleagues left for Wash-
ington, Harris taking the forty-four thousand dollars with
him. For a long time afterwards these men were called "the
runaways." the "Mormon" poetess embalming their memory
in the following stanza —

"Though Brocchus. Day. and Brandebury,
And Harris, too. the Secretary.
Have gone — they went ! But when they left us,
They onlv of themselves bereft us."

Their tale of woe, however, received no sympathy at
Washington, th.ough they won the popular ajiplause. Dan-
iel Webster, the Secretary of State, ordered them back to
their posts ; but the chagrin and humiliation involved in do-
ing sc» would be greater than they could bear ; and so they
resigned. Brandebury vvas succeeded Ky T o^arnc Vf^ T?ppH
of Nt w York ; Brocchus. by Leonidas Shaver ; and Harris,
by B'injamin G. Ferris. When the full story of the "run-
aways" became known generally, which it did in a pamphlet
over the signature of Jedediah M. Grant, they were over-
whelmed by public ridicule for the part they had played.

The new officers arrived in the summer and autumn of
1853. Like their predecessors, they were well received.
JuTlge Reed, in a letter written shortly after his arrival, gave
his" impressions of the Governor. "He has taken pains to
make my residence here agreeable," he said, among other
things. "The Governor, in manners and conversation, is a
polished gentleman, very neat and tasty in dress, easy and
pleasant in conversation, and I think, a man of decided talent
and strong intellectual qualities. He is a very excellent
speaker : his gesture uncommonly graceful, articulation dis-
tinct, and speech pleasant. I have made up my mind that no

ONK HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 491

man has been more grossly misrepresented than Governor
Young, and that he is a man who will reciprocate kindness
and good intentions as heartily and as freely as any one, but
if abused, or crowded hard, I think he may be found ex-
ceedingly hard to handle." Judge Shaver was similarly im-
pressed. But Secretary Ferris, after six months' residence
iiere, concluded that he had had enough of the "^Mormons"
and abruptly left the Territory. Both he and his wife after-
wards wrote books against the Saints.

In 1854 Governor Young's term of office expired, and
through the influence of Colonel E. J. Steptoe he was re-
appointed. The following year saw tlie deaths of Judges
I^eed and Shaver, the former passing away at his home in
New York, the latter in Salt Lake, having been found dead
in his chamber on the morning of June 29th. Both of these
men were respected and loved by the "Mormon" people, and
their demise was sincerely mourned. Judge Kinney suc-
ceeded to Reed's office and Judge Drummond to that of
Shaver.

I'l— lS^^t^ Utah made another attempt to^et into the
Union. A convention was held at Salt Lake City, and Wil-
liam II. Hooper and George Q. Cannon were sent to Wash-
ington. But both houses of the national legislature were con-
trolled by a party that had pledged itself to extirpate the
"twin relics of barbarism" — slavery and polygamy ; hence the
"Mormons" were answered by a law against their peculiar
marriage system. In Januar^-^^ iS^Zj another attempt to ob-
tain Statehood was made, but with no better success.

And so we come to the year i82ct.in Utah affairs. Mean-
time, a great many changes had occurred. Thousands of
Saints had emigrated from England, Scotland, Ireland, and
Wales, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and other European
countries. The various States of the Union also had sent out
their quota. A telegraph line and a railway — the Union Pa-

49St ONE HUNDRED YEARb OF MORMONISM.

cific — had been established between here and the East. Some
of the great mines of the Territory had begun to put forth
their mineral wealth. And many Gentiles had taken up their
abode among the "Mormons" mainly for commercial reasons.
Thus the Territory was growing constantly in importance
and population, and would have secured Statehood but for
incidents which we have now to relate.

The year 1870 gave rise to what was called the Liberal
Party in Utah. Ostensibly it was a political organization,
but in reality it transcended these bounds, and assumed to
regulate the affairs of the Church. Hitherto, there had been
no party lines, unless the solid phalanx of the "Mormons"
might have been called a party — the "People's Party" — •
which \A'as the case as soon as the "Liberals" came into ex-
istence as an organization. But from that time on Utah was
to have such party battles as had never been known in any
other StJte.

Its crigin was peculiar. Judge Brocchus, it will be re-
membered, advised the Saints to divide on party lines, for
reasons \a hich any one might have easily seen. No doubt the
few Gentiles and disgruntled "Mormons" then in the Ter-
ritory hesrtily wished this gratuitous counsel adopted. But
there were not yet enough to make a respectable following.
General Conner, who, in 1862, had been sent here with
troops from California and Nevada to overawe the "Mor-
mons" frcm their station at Camp Douglas, lent such en-
couragemf:nt to the idea as to merit the unenviable reputa-
tion of being the "father of the Liberal Party." Later, some
frightful inurders, including the Mountain Meadows mas-
sacre, whi':h, like everything else that was disagreeable, were
laid at thedoorof the Church, was made a pretext to solidify
the elemiints of discontent. Then came a policy of the
"Mormon" authorities, the creation and encouragement of
co-operative mercantile institutions, which threatened to take

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 493

much of the trade out of the hands of Gentile merchants.
But the direct occasion for the organization of the party was
the Godbeite movement. Towards the latter part of 1869, a
group of n?ally talented men — including Wm. S. Godbe, T.
B. H. Stenhouse, Edward Tullidge, Henry W. Lawrence, E.
L. T. Harrson, and a few others of less prominence — "out-
grew Morr lonism," and so left the Church. They had sup-
posed from the respect which they formerly commanded that
their disoiffection would create a rupture in the Church,
which opinion the Gentiles also entertained, both here and
elsewhere. And on the strength of this unfounded conjec-
ture the "Liberal'' Party was formed. But their hopes of a
following proved delusive ; none of the Saints paid much at-
tention to the apostasy of these men, nor to their subsequent
opposition.

If the origin of this party was remarkable, its composi-
tion was, and has been, much more so. Speaking in general
of the "Liberal" Party in L^tah, its membership has been
made up entirely of Gentiles and apostates from the "Mor-
mon" Church. It has been, in other words, an anti-"Mor-
mon" organization, ostensibly and really. And a motly ag-
gregation of "regulators" and "reformers" it has been !
There were those who from the beginning of their Utah
career were bitter, unprincipled, and unrelenting in their op-
position to anything "Mormon," good as well as bad ; whose
sole purpose was to overthrow "Mormonism," to pull it up
root and branch. Then there were men in the party who
saw nothing objectionable in "Mormonism" except polyg-
amy, who thought it best not to interfere with other people's
affairs, domestic, religious, or political, who, therefore, en-
tertained the friendliest feelings for the Saints and respect
for their religion, but who were whipped into line by that
"cat o' nii^e tails" — the word "Jack-Mormon," a term used
chiefly to designate the class of people who are neither

4!U ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

"Mormons" nor anti-"]Monnons." And between these two
degrees there was an almost infinite variety, from the man
whose afifections had been slighted by a "Mormon" girl, to
the one who sincerely wished "the whole tribe" of Saints in
Hades. Tt may be added that there were almost as many
aims in the party as there were distinct individuals. Some
objected only to plural marriage. Those were mostly sin-
cere. Others found fault with the obedience of the "Mor-
mon" people to the priesthood ; in other words, their unity
in all things, temporal and spiritual. But these generally
did not object to unity in general, only to unity in the "Mor-
mons." ( )thers still, as stated, would annihilate everything
that bore the name "Mormon." good and bad alike. These
were usually preachers or those excessively sanctimonious.

Strangest of all, however, have been the methods of this
"Liberty" Party to attain these numerous ends. For many
\ears it took the form of a conspiracy, and its movements
were in perfect harmony with its character. Its organ was
the Tribune which, everyone knows, has at times fairly
seethed with falsehood and indecency. Then, too, the local
agency of the Associated Press has always been in its hands.
In addition to this, some of the Governors of the Territory
and most of the Federal officials were members of the league
against Utah. With all this power in their hands and the
word "polygamy" constantly on their lips as the war-cry, it
can easily be seen what harm the Party might do, and did do,
to Utah and her people. And this power was wielded in the
most conscienceless manner. Despatches, letters, private and
public, magazine articles, and books were sent East to create
the impression that "polygamy" and "Mormonism" were
synonymous terms, that the life and property of Gentiles
were unsafe in Utah, that there was no respect for law and
order in the Territory, except among the Gentiles, and that
there were constant uprisings among the "Mormons" against

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 495

the government of the United States. If any crime was com-
mitted, such, for instance, as the murder of a non-" Mormon,"
it was charged to the Church. Governor EH H. Murray
twice deceived President Cleveland in his representations that
United States troops were needed here to quell rebellions.
To this and other similar things is due his removal from
office. And this was by no means the limit. Individual
cases were cited by these instruments of defamation where
murderous sentiments were alleged to have been expressed
against non-"Mormons" by prominent Church officials,
which it is needless to say, were pure fabrications, as for ex-
ample the infamous "Red Hot Address" by "Bishop West"
of Juab. Notwithstanding there was no bishop of this name
then in the Church, that there was no such sermon delivered
on that or any other day, and that no meeting at all was held
in Juab on the day named, still it was widely circulated and
believed in the East, and was the immediate cause of the
murder of four Latter-day Saints, including two Utah mis-
sionaries, in Tennessee. This Party has always posed as a
reforming agency in Utah (God save the mark!). Here
are some ways of attaining this end, suggested by the ac-
knowledged organ of slander, in its issue of March 6th,
1881 : "I believe that billiard halls, saloons and houses of
ill-fame are more powerful agencies here iiT Utah than
churches and schools," wrote a "correspondent." "I rejoice
when I see the young Mormon hoodlums plaxing billiards,
getting drunk, running with bad women — anything to break
the shackles they were born in, and that every so-called re-
ligious or virtuous influence only makes the stronger." And
the editorial comment on the above was : "Freedom is the
first requisite of manhood, and if it can be won without ex-
cesses so much the better. If it can't, never mind the ex-
cesses, win the freedom." Such were the ])rincii:)les and the
methods of the "Liberal" Partv in l^tah.

496 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

And what strange anomalies it gave rise to! Here for
instance were men who had no scruples about patronizing
houses of ill-fame posing as reformers of "Mormon" youth ;
a Judge Drummond with a wife in the East and a harlot in
the West, professing to be greatly shocked at plural mar-
riage. Here we find men who use the most shameful meth-
ods to whip into line every Gentile in the Territory so as to
create a solid front to the "Mormons," perfectly "horrified"
at what they termed the tyranny of the priesthood. Here
we find pious preachers and over-righteous missionaries pro-
fessing to be followers of the meek and lowly Nazarene, en-
gaging in the most malicious misrepresentation of their
neighbors in order to create a larger purse for their "sacred
enterprise." Anon we shall see them holding up their hands
in holy horror at what they called"meddling in politics on the
part of the Mormon Church," and then turning round to
unite their influence with that of their comrades in the East
to overawe Congress in the matter of unseating a Represen-
tative and a Senator, both regularly elected and legally
qualified for the positions. The fact of the matter, therefore,
is, that cohabiting with more than one wife, the Church in-
fluencing the State, unity and solidarity, and other things
along the same line, are vices if found among the "Mor-
mons," buf perfectly legitimate if found among non-"Mor-
mons."

This language we would not apply to all those who be-
longed to this anti-"Mormon" party. Many of its members
were honest, virtuous, and, in general, upright. But they
were certainly at fault in not protesting vigorously against
the base and criminal methods resorted to by their society in
order to reach the end sought, instead of sanctioning by
their passivity every measure, however cruel, unjust, and
wicked, brought forward by those to whom slander and vi-
tuperation and immorality were meat and drink.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMON ISM. 49*?

Statehood.

Nothing indicates more clearly the insincerity of the "Lib-
eral" leaders in their fight against polygamy than their con-
duct on at least two occasions. In 1872 a convention was
held at Salt Lake City for the purpose of again petitioning
Congress for Statehood. Colonel Thomas Fitch, a friend to
the "Mormons'" but an enemy to their marriage system, ear-
nestly urged the Saints to surrender this peculiar rite. But
Judge Hayden, a "Liberal," begged the "Mormons" not to
listen "with greedy ears to the sweet cadence of the pleader's
voice, wooing them from Charybdis to be wrecked on the
treacherous Scylla." He entertained too much respect for
them, he said, and so did the Christian world, to believe that
they would m^ake so great a sacrifice unless "new lights"
conscientiously guided them. "Your very steadfastness to
your faith," he cried, "amid the trying difficulties which en-
compass you, like the 'still small voice' found a lodgment
in thousands of hearts all over the world. What will history
write? What will the world say of a convention composed
almost entirely of Latter-day Saints, among whom are six
apostles and twenty bishops, ready and willing to sacrifice
one of their divine ordinances for the sake of State gov-
ernment?" We will not undertake positively to affirm that
Judge Hayden advised the Saints not to abandon plural mar-
riage because he thought them insincere, but the whole situ-
ation, we must confess, points to the contrary opinion : he
was afraid that they would yield this principle, thus taking
away from the anti-" Mormons" every pretext for opposition.
Again, in 1887, the People's Party proposed to form a consti-
tution by which union of Church and State should not be al-
lowed, and polygamy and bigamy should "be forbidden and
declared a misdemeanor." A Convention was held, but the
"Liberal" Party would not participate. Why? Judge
82

498 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Carleton said that it was because '"they feared the Mormons
were sincere, and might succeed in warding off further anti-
Mormon legislation by abandoning polygamy."

Finally, however, after President Woodruff's Declara-
tion and its general adoption by the whole body of the
Church, the boon of Statehood was granted to the long-
suffering "Mormons." In March, 1895, a convention was
held at Salt Lake City at which a constitution was framed in
accordance with the Enabling Act. By this time there had
'come comparative peace, and the People's Party and the
"Liberal" Party had dissolved, reappearing as the Demo-
cratic and the Republican party, though, of course, not on the
old lines, for those who had belonged to the People's Party
were found in both the new parties, and so with the "Lib-
erals." A clause in the Enabling Act providing "that polyg-
amous or plural marriages are forever prohibited," was in-
corporated in the Constitution. Heber M. Wells, a Utah boy,
was the first Governor. He served two terms, and was suc-
ceeded by the present Governor, John C. Cutler.

But "Mormon" tribulations were not yet at an end. The
cry of "insincerity" went up from a thousand anti-"Mor-
mon" throats, and charges, absolutely unfounded but never-
theless equally useful, were freely reiterated here and in the
East. In 1898, B. H. Roberts, a polygamist, was elected to
Congress by several thousand majority, but the national
Mouse refused him admission. Subsequently — in 1904 —
Reed Smoot, one of the Twelve Apostles, was elected Sena-
tor by the State Legislature, and though he was admitted,
petition after petition, from all parts of the country went up
against him to the nation's capital, principally from the wo-
men and the preachers. The case against Roberts was clear ;
that is, he had more than one wife. But the "Mormons" be-
lieve that the Constitution of the United States, both in let-
ter and spirit, was grossly violated in this instance. It is

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 499

different, however, in the Smoot affair. The Senator is ad-
mitted even by his opponents to be married to only one wife,
to have a model family, and to possess the rare jewel, a spot-
less character. Still the women and the clergy profess to be-
lieve that his influence on the other Senators will be contam-
inating. The "argument" made against him, strangely
enough, is that he belongs to an organization which holds
that God may reveal his will to the Church, and that as a
legislator he might be influenced by this belief. His recent
testimony to the effect that his actions are perfectly free
from outside control and that he has taken no oath inimical
to the government and laws of the United States, is regard-
ed by anti-"Mormons" as of slight value, since it is incon-
sistent with what they have always conceived "Mormonism"
to be. But the most anomalous condition connected with
this Smoot case is, that sectarian ministers, who are so ir-
recoverably "shocked" at the "influence" of the "Mormon"
Church over some of its members who happen to hold civil
offices, have no scruples at all in holding over the national
Legislature their sledge-hammer of proscription. Such,
however, have always been the inconsistencies and subter-
fuges of anti-"Mormons."

Ever since the election of Senator Smoot, religious par-
tisans, disappointed politicians, and self-righteous apostates
have continued the fight against the Church, through their
unscrupulous organ of vilification, the Salt Lake Tribune.
An effort was made to revive the old "Liberal" Party under
the name of the "American Party," but it remains to be seen
how successful this will be. It is doubtful, however, whether
the fight will cease when the present "Mormon" Senator re-
tires to private life, for "the opposition of these men is in-
spired by the spirit of the adversary of all righteousness."

.V

CHAPTER V.

THE DAYS OF THE UNDERGROUND.

Having learned something of the sentiments entertained by
the "Mormon" people respecting the subject of plural mar-
riage, and having obtained an incite into the very "Liberal"
methods of warfare against this principle, we are prepared
now to enter into some of the details of this conflict while it
was at its highest point.

Roots and Rootlets.

In November, 1880, George O. Cannon was elected Delegate
to Congress over Allen G. Campbell by a majority of more
than seventeen thousand votes. But Governor Murray, the
working-tool of the Utah conspirators, refused to give him
the certificate of election, on the grounds that Mr. Cannon
was not a citizen and that the votes cast for him were illegal.
The first reason was "a lie out of whole cloth," the second, a
pure and impudent assumption by the Governor of powers
which did not belong to him — of "going behind the returns."
The certificate was accordingly given to Mr. Campbell. After
a prolonged fight at Washington the Delegateship from
Utah was declared vacant, and Mr. Cannon, who had pre-
viously won out in similar contests, was refused a seat for
being a polygamist.

The ostensible aim of all this was to obtain the seat for
Mr. Campbell. But the primary, though "hidden," purpose
was to arouse through this means such a popular feeling in
the East as would result in legislation against polygamy. Ac-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 501

cordingly, the Anti-polygamy Society in Utah sent a public
letter to Mrs. Hayes at the White House in which this prac-
tice was stigmatized as "a. great crime," and "the lowest
form of indecency." And they called upon "the Christian
women of the United States" to join them in their efforts to
urge Congress to "arrest the further progress of this evil."
It was hoped that "every Christian minister of the gospel
would commend" this document "to the women of his con-
gregation." Among the probable results of this instrument
may be named a recommendation of President Hayes in his
message to Congress for "more comprehensive and searching
methods for preventing as well as punishing the crime ;" the
issuance of the ridiculous Evarts pamphlet to the repre-
sentatives of the United States in European countries to in-
duce the various governments there to suppress "Mormon"
emigration to America, a thing which made the Secretary
"the laughing stock of statesmen and diplomats the world
over;" and the murder, by an armed mob, in Georgia, of a
young Utah missionary — Joseph Standing. Meanwhile, the
American press teemed with the customary falsehoods about
all phases of "Mormon" character and life. A young rev-
erend school-teacher in the Sanpete Valley, yearning for
celebrity, published detailed accounts of how he used to oc-
cupy his pulpit with the Word of God in one hand and a
deadly weapon in the other, ready to deal salvation or death
to his audience according to their demeanor. He had the
"honesty," however' to deny the story when he rturned to
Utah, though he afterwards reaffirmed it in an "apology"
which he wrote to an Eastern journal, making considerable
additions thereto along the old lines. The Boston Watchman
cunningly wrested the tabernacle memorial exercises over
the martyred President — Garfield — into a "praying circle"
for his death. Everv device was resorted to in order that

503 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

"Mormonism" might be placed before the public in the
wrong light.

"In the Marriage Relation."

As a result of this anti-"Mormon" agitation, continued
through many years, Congress was induced to pass two
stringent measures against polygamy. The first of these was
known as the Edmonds Law, passed in March, 1882. It
provided for the punishment of polygamy and unlawful co-
habitation, the former by imprisonment for not more than
five years and a fine of not to exceed five hundred dollars,
the latter by a maximum penalty of six months' imprison-
ment and three hundred dollars. To insure conviction, it was
provided that any person who either practiced polygamy or
unlawful cohabitation or believed it "right for a man to have
more than one living and undivorced wife at the same time,"
might not serve on the jury to try such a case. Another sec-
tion declared that all polygamists were disqualified as voters
and ineligible to appointments. But even this act was not
rigorous enough to suit the anti-"Mormon" ring-leaders.
So, in March, 1887, the Edmonds-Tucker Bill was passed.
This law provided that the husband or wife might be com-
pelled to testify; that attachments might be issued when it
was believed that a witness would fail to appear; that the
Territorial law incorporating the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints be abolished; and that a test oath be sub-
mitted to each voter.

The outrageous character of these laws was patent to at
least some of the national lawmakers, as is evident from their
denunciations of them on the floor of the Senate and the
Plouse. Representative Bennett of North Carolina charac-
terized that part of the bill which "put the Mormon Church
in liquidation" as not only superfluous, but atrocious, and
unconstitutional. Senator Vest declared his determination to

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 503

stand out against the public sentiment which required the
passage of this Edmonds-Tucker bill, whatever the conse-
quences might be to himself. "It is naked, simple, bold con-
fiscation and nothing else/' he said, referring to the clause
disincorporating the Church and providing means to wind
up its afifairs. "The whole spirit of this test-oath legisla-
tion," he added "is wrong ; it is contrary to the principles and
spirit of our republican institutions." Nevertheless both
measures became law, much to the distress of the Saints.

But these Acts were mildness itself compared with the
manner and spirit in which they were interpreted and carried
out in Utah. The Edmonds Law provided for a Board of
Commissioners appointed by the President, to regulate mat-
ters pertaining to "the registration of voters, the conduct of
elections, the receiving or rejection of votes, and the can-
vassing and returning of the same, and the issuing of cer-
tificates or other evidence of election." The board was com-
posed of Alexander Ramsey, of Minnesota; Algernon S.
Paddock, of Nebraska; George L. Godfrey, of Iowa; Am-
brose B. Carlton, of Indiana ; and James R. Pettigrew, of
Arkansas, who received their appointment in June and ar-
rived at Salt Lake City in August, 1882. One of their first
duties was to formulate a test-oath, which they did in a man-
ner satisfactory, no doubt, to the radical anti-" Mormons,"
but in a way that gave the keynote to the whole business of
interpreting these Congressional provisions ; for one clause
read, "And I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am
not a bigamist nor a polygamist ; that I am not a violator of
the laws of the United States prohibiting bigamy or polyg-
amy ; that I do not live or cohabit with more than one woman
in the marriage relation." It was this clause in italics, which
was not, however, in the Edmonds Law, together with a sub-
sequent unsuccessful attempt to punish certain prominent
non-"Mormons" for cohabiting with more than one woman

504 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

not in the marriage relation, that lead Senator Brown, while
the Edmonds-Tucker Act was under consideration in the
Senate, to propose an amendment making "this and the pre-
ceding section apply as well to so-called Gentiles as to "Mor-
mons"— a suggestion that shocked Senator Edmonds very
much.

As an example of the unjust workings of this infamous
test-oath, President John Taylor, in an article written at the
time to the North American Review, cited two cases. One
was of a former mayor of Salt Lake City — Feramorz Little
- — an honorable and highly respected gentleman, who was re-
fused registration, though both his wives were then dead,
and he himself was without a wife, his own son having the
mortification of denying him one of the most sacred rights of
an American citizen. The other was of a man — a non-
"Mormon" — who, though confessedly immoral, had sufficient
honor left to refuse taking what appeared on casual obser-
vation to be an oath that would make him liable for perjury,
but who, when his attention was called to the last clause, was
nevertheless sworn. "Oh, I see, I see !" he exclaimed ; "I can
go that!" And so this man cast his ballot freely as did hun-
dreds of others like him, while those whom Governor Mur-
ray himself designated as "the brainiest men in the Terri-
tory" were compelled to submit to the dictates of men whose
names were unworthy of mention on the same day with their
own. Such, however, was the only justice which Congress
and the Commissioners had for the "Mormons."

To give even typical cases of arrest and trial under this
Edmonds and Edmonds-Tucker Law would require more
space than we have at our disposal, though it would be ex-
ceedingly interesting and would show the progressively
harsh enforcement of a harsh measure. We shall therefore
content ourselves with giving some characteristics in the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 505

methods pursued to capture and convict men who were sup-
posed to be hving in plural marriage.

Several hundred cases of conviction occurred under
these Acts, mostly for unlawful cohabitation; and in nearly
every instance the full penalty of the law was inflicted. The
first case was that of Rudger Clawson, then a young man of
not much prominence in the Church, but now one of the
Twelve Apostles. Among the authorities of the Church sent
to prison were Apostles Snow and Lyman, President George
Q. Cannon, Elder B. H. Roberts, and President Angus M.
Cannon. And so it went on till the penitentiary was crowded
with "the brainiest men in Utah."

Of course all those who were liable to arrest under these
laws went into hiding, or "under ground," as the phrase
went in those days. All the prominent men of the Church
except a very few either went about in such disguise as hid
their identity even from members of their own families, or
went to Canada, Mexico, or some part of Europe, or re-
mained in secret rooms at their own homes. Plural wives,
also, were compelled to go under ground to avoid arrest,
most of them taking some other name than their own. The
danger of the situation was aggravated by the connivance
with the officers or the simple-mindedness of some of the
Saints themselves, which made it hard sometimes to tell who
was a friend or who a foe. The approach of "the deputies"
was always a source of great consternation. Sometimes it
occurred in the day, but oftener at dead of night ; but when-
ever it happened, those whose peace and security were
threatened had to be disposed of somehow. The hardships
entailed by such a strenuous life, a life of almost perpetual
terror, it is impossible for any one to imagine, who did not
actually pass through the experience. This constant alert-
ness of mind was a great strain on those who were in the
least inclined to be nervous, and was the direct means of per-

506 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

manently breaking down the health of men and women,
somtimes resulting in death. There is no doubt that Presi-
dent Taylor's useful career was thus cut short.

Finding difficulty in making the required arrests, the
officers resorted to a most detestable system of espionage.
"Paid informers, both men and women," says Whitney in his
History of Utah, "were put to work to ferret out cases of
polygamy. Some of these assumed roles of peddlers, some
of tourists, others of tramps, and insinuated themselves into
private dwellings, relying upon their impertinent inquiries
and the gossiping propensities of the inmates of the homes
desecrated by their presence, to elicit desired information. In
some places they were eminently successful ; in others they
were promptly detected and expelled. Little children, going
to or returning from school, would be stopped upon the
streets by strange men and women and interrogated respect-
ing the marital relations of their parents. At night dark
forms could be seen prowling about the premises of peaceable
citizens, peering into windows or watching for the opening
of doors through which to obtain glimpses of persons sup-
posed to be inside. Some of the hirelings were bold enough,
or indecent enough, to thrust themselves into sick-rooms and
women's bed-chambers, rousing the occupants from slum-
ber by pulling the bed clothes off them. Houses were brok-
en into by deputy marshals armed with axes. Delicate wo-
men, about to become mothers, or having infants in arms,
would be roused from rest at the most unseemly hours, driv-
en long distances through the night, in vehicles filled with
profane and half-drunken men, and arraigned before U. S.
Commissioners. More than one poor woman, fleeing from
arrest, or succumbing from fright and exhaustion, perished
in giving premature birth to a child destined to bear through
life the effects of the brutal treatment meted out to its un-
forunate niother. INIale fugitives were shot at if they did

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 507

not immediately surrender to the officers, and in one instance
a reputable citizen was slain without provocation by an over-
zealous deputy marshal, bent on vindicating the majesty of
the law."

" 'Hunting- cohabs' — to use the vulgar parlance of the
times — was the most lucrative employment of the hour ; and
one in which some of the most disreputable persons in the
community zealously engaged. Twenty dollars per capita,
for each polygamist arrested, was the ordinary price paid to
these mercenaries for betraying them. It was profit, not
patriotism, that inspired such labors. Hence the odium at-
taching to such characters and the detestation in which they
were generally regarded.

"So bold and insulting became the night prowlers, en-
couraged by immunity from punishment to proceed to the
most exasperating lengths — that the persecuted people in
places — notably Salt Lake City — were compelled to organize
special police forces to guard their homes and families
against such aggressions. But there was still another object
in the organization of these police. Paradoxical as it may
seem, it was the protection of the spies themselves, some of
whom were United States officers ; and to kill or maim one — •
whatever the provocation — would have been heralded abroad
as a "Mormon" atrocity, to justify all that had been done,
and twice as much to follow. That so few collisions oc-
curred, and that absolutely no blood was shed by "Mormon"
hands during that troublous period, is an historical anomaly,
a psychological marvel ; one that speaks trumpet-tongued in
praise of the patience and self-control of the tantalized and
trampled community."

Some amusing stories went the rounds of how the dog-
ging officials were either put on the wrong scent or altogeth-
er evaded. One good brother, caught unawares by the dep-
uties, obtained permission to go up stairs, gad when he hadj

508 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. ""

done SO, he descended on the outside from an upper window
by means of a rope tied to the bedstead, and thus made his
way safely to "fresh fields and pastures new." Another
prominent Elder, dressed as an old lady, boarded the train
for New York with the intention of sailing to England. An
officer, getting wind of his intentions, but not of his disguise,
went also to the metropolis. He watched very carefully the
entrance to the ship bound for Britain ; but no elder from
Utah made his appearance. Instead of arresting "his man,"
the officer had the "pleasure" of courteously extending a
helping hand to a particularly feeble old lady — the very elder
in disguise — struggling to ascend the plank leading to the
ship ! A courageous and determined woman in southern
Utah, when an officer would search her house without a war-
rant, whether she would or no, grabbed a picket from the
fence and pommeled the retreating figure of the detective in
a truly masculine fashion. And a precocious youngster in
Salt Lake, asked if he could not point out a polygamist in
the neighborhood, took the gracious and inquiring marshal
into a hen coop in the back-yard and bade him arrest the
feathered "cohab."

Inevitable conviction followed arrest. No "Mormon"
could sit on the jury. "Do you believe the doctrines and
tenets of the Mormon Church ?" is a sample of the questions
asked the jurors at the trial. And further, "Do you believe
in the doctrine of plural marriage, as taught by the Mormon
Chruch?" "Do you believe it right for a man to have more
than one undivorced wife living at the same time?" In this
way every Latter-day Saint was excluded from the jury —
every person who would be likely to sympathize with the ac-
cused. These questions were asked only of those who were
known to be members of the Church. The juries kept getting
more and more pliable in anti-"Mormon" hands. One jury,
for in^jtance. disagreed in the first trial of Rudger Clawson ;

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 509

but care was taken, after that, that no other jury should do
so. In Idaho, United States Marshal Fred T. Dubois openly
boasted in having obtained a jury that would
have no scruples in convicting Jesus Christ. And it was
much the same in Utah, only no one here happened to think
of this blasphemous way of putting it.

To secure conviction women were compelled, in accord-
ance with the Edmonds-Tucker Act, to testify in cases where
their husbands were on trial. The most indecent questions
were put to them, for refusing to answer which several were
imprisoned. Thus women as well as men suffered incarcer-
ation for their convictions.

Nor was the construction of the law one whit behind the
spirit which characterized the arrest and trial of alleged of-
fenders ; and this like the other was progressive in its harsh-
ness. In the case of Angus M. Cannon, Judge Zane decided
that it was sufficient if the evidence showed "that a man lives
with more than one woman, cohabits with them and holds
them out to the world as his wives." In addressing the jury
in this Cannon case the Judge said : "It is not necessary that
the evidence should show that the defendant and these wo-
men, or either of them, occupied the same bed or slept in the
same room." It was sufficient, he said, that, in the opinion of
the jurors, "the defendant lived in the same house with
Amanda Cannon and Clara C. Cannon, the women named in
the indictment, and ate at their respective tables one-third of
his time or thereabouts, and that he held them out to the
world by his language or his conduct, or by both, as his
wives." This judgment, which was sustained by the Su-
preme Court of the United States, was a distinctive crisis in
the Crusade. But a worse stage was to come.

Thinking perhaps that the"Mormons" were invoking
the sacredness of plural marriage (on the grounds of its
having been commanded by special revelation to the Church)

510 ONE HUNDRED YRARS OF MORMONISM.

as a shield for licentiousness, those who had the duty of ad-
ministering the law had not hitherto scrutinized that law so
closely as to see its greatest possibilities. But no sooner had
they perceived that the "Mormons" acted from a high sense
of religious duty than these minions of the Edmonds Acts
tormented their ingenuity in the way of interpretations till
they found scarcely no limits for which they could not dis-
cover a warrant in the Congressional rulings. The one which
showed the greatest possibilities was what became known as
"Segregation." Briefly explained, it was this : U. S. Attor-
ney Dickson maintained that, "while the maximum legal pen-
alty for unlawful cohabitation — the holding out of two or
more women as wives — was a fine of three hundred dollars
and imprisonment for six months, there was nothing to pre-
vent dividing the period of the offense into 'times and times
and half-times ;' each fragment being broken ofif or segregat-
ed to be covered by a separate indictment." And this extraor-
dinary construction Judge Zane decided to be perfectly with-
in the law. Shortly after this Judge Powers said: "An in-
dictment may be found against a man guilty of cohabitation,
for every day, or other distinct interval of time, during which
he offends. Each day that a man cohabits with more than
one woman, as I have defined the word 'cohabit' [the "hold-
ing out" practice] is a distinct and separate violation of the
law, and he is liable for punishment for each separate of-
fense." The Deseret News, in commenting upon this as-
tounding decision, said : "This was a master-stroke, because
the maximum aggregate penalty under Judge Zane's di-
visional process would amount to imprisonment for

only seventy-eight years, and a fine of forty-six thousand
eight hundred dollars. According to Powers the obnoxious
Mormon could be sentenced to an aggregated term of five
hundred and forty-seven years and six months, and com-
pelled to pay a fine of three hundred and twenty-eight thou-

ONE HUNDRKD YEARS OF MORMONISM. 511

sand four luimlred dollars. If he happened to he impecuni-
ous he could he made to remain in prison for ninety-one
\ears and three months longer, in order to satisfy the 'poor
convict act.' Such lengthy periods in prison would certainly
he conducive to fatigue, and be a powerful test of endur-
ance." This satirical writer recommended that the penalties
be extended to the other life. But fortunately this "segre-
gation" idea was ruled out by the court of last resort.

Nothing reveals better the fact that these "Mormon"
polygamists were actuated by a high sense of honor than the
words which some of them uttered in the court-room when
asked if they had anything to say why sentence should not
be pronounced upon them. A few, including one bishop,
pledged themselves to obey the law, and thus escape with
either a mild punishment or none at all. But they were uni-
versally considered traitors among their co-religionists, and
their example was disregarded by the great majority of the
brethren. Elder Rudger Clawson, at his trial, said : "I very
much regret that the laws of my country should come in con-
flict with the laws of God; but whenever they do, I shall in-
variably choose to obey the latter." Abram H. Cannon de-
clared that he acknowledged "a higher law than that of
man." And he went on to say : "When I embraced this re-
ligion, I promised to place all that I had, even life itself, upon
the altar, and I expect to abide by that covenant. And sir,
I hope the day will never come when I must sacrifice prin-
ciple, even to procure life or liberty. Honor, sir, to me is
higher than anything else upon the earth ; and my religion is
dearer to me than anything that I have yet seen." Apostle
Lorenzo Snow said : "I married my wives because God
commanded it. The ceremony, which united us for time and
eternity, was performed by a servant of God having author-
ity. God being m.y helper, I would prefer to die a thousand

5r^ ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONlSM.

(Icatlis than renounce my wives and violate these sacred ob-
ligations."

The latter part of the Crusade was marked by the con-
fiscation by the Federal government of the property of the
Church. The United States marshal was appointed receiver.
The tithing house and grounds, the Historian's Office, the
Gardo House, and even the Temple block, including the Tab-
ernacle and the Assembly Hall — buildings used exclusively
for purposes of worship — were taken, and the "Mormons"
made to pay rent for their own buildings. A long course of
intricate and complicated litigation followed, which it would
be of little interest to relate in this place, at the end of which
all that was left of about a million and a half dollars was re-
stored to the Church.

But the time came when the better class of non-"Mor-
mons" sickened of this disreputable work of hounding polyg-
amists and persecuting an innocent people for their religious
convictions ; and they as well as the Saints longed eagerly for
a change. That change finally came. A division occurred
among the Gentiles here, some still clamoring for a continu-
ation of "heroic measures," others crying for more humane
treatment. The better sentiment prevailed, and there took
place a freer intercourse between "Mormons" and non-
"Mormons." Of such a relaxation, the Chamber of Com-
merce, which prohibited any discussion of politics and re-
ligion, was part of the good fruit borne. Finally, in 1890,
President Woodruff issued his Declaration, which those Gen-
tiles that had been honest in their opposition to polygamy at
once accepted as a sincere expression of the "Mormon" will.
And at last the Crusade was at an end.

CHAPTER VI.

SOME SCATTERED FRAGMENTS.

There still remain a number of important events in the prog-
ress of "Mormonism" during this last period, which it is
proper that we should speak of before bringing our narra-
tive to a close.

•
Changes in Leadership.

When the First Presidency of the Church was reorganized in
December, 1847, it consisted, as we have seen, of Brigham
Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards. In
March, 1854, President Richards died, and was succeeded by
Jedediah M. Grant. President Grant, however, occupied this
position less than three years, for he passed away in De-
cember, 1856. His place was taken by Daniel H. Wells.
President Kimball died in June, 1868, and the vacancy was
filled by the appointment of Apostle George A. Smith. Pres-
ident Smith, however, died in September, 1875, whereupon
John W. Young was chosen to succeed him. Thus the First
Presidency stood in 1877, when President Young passed
away.

In the meantime, changes had occurred also in the
Quorum of Twelve. At the opening of the year 1848, the
quorum stood as follows : Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt,
Orson Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruft, George A.
Smith, Amasa Lyman, and Ezra T. Benson, there being
four vacancies. Shortly afterwards, however, these were
filled by the appointment of Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow,
Erastus Snow, and Franklin D. Richards. Later, but during

S3

514 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

President Young's life, George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith,
Brigham Young, Jr. and Albert Carrington were chosen
to fill vacancies made by the apostasy of Amasa
Lyman, the deaths of Parley P. Pratt and Ezra
T. Benson, and the appointment of George A. Smith
to the First Presidency. Orson Hyde had acted as
President of the Twelve from 1847 till 1875, when
his place was taken by John Taylor. At the death of
President Young, therefore, this quorum stood : John Tay-
lor, Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, Charles
C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Rich-
ards, George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith, Brigham Young,
Jr., and Albert Carrington.

In 1849, John Smith, uncle of the Prophet Joseph, was
made Presiding Patriarch, which office he held till his death
in 1854, when John Smith, eldest son of Hyrum the Martyr,
took his place. He is the present incumbent of this office.

When the Saints left Illinois, the First council of Sev-
enty was as follows : Joseph Young, Levi W. Hancock,
Henry Llarriman, Zera Pulsipher, Albert P. Rockwood,
Jedediah M. Grant, and Benjamin L. Clapp. When Presi-
dent Grant was taken from the quorum, his place was filled
by Horace S. Eldredge. Elder Clapp was excommunicated
from the Church in 1859, and his position given to Jacob
Gates. In 1862, Elder Pulsipher was ordained a patriarch,
and his place was filled by John Van Cott. So the quorum
stood in 1877 when President Young died.

On the 29th of August, 1877, President Brigham Young
passed away at his home in Salt Lake City. Like the martyr-
dom of the Prophet Joseph, it was a shock to the Latter-day
Saints throughout the world, though it was not so unexpect-
ed as that tragedy, for the President had been ailing for
some time : During the varying scenes of thirty years he had
been at the head of the Church, and had directed affairs with

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 515

great wisdom. So potent had been his influence in shaping
the destinies of "Mormonism," that many thought the
Church would fall to pieces when he died. But those who
entertained such an opinion showed thereby their total ignor-
ance of this religion. It has many times demonstrated that
no man is indispensible to the progress of the work of God.

The Twelve, as was the case at the death' of Joseph, were
the presiding quorum of the Church, and they remained so
till the October conference of 1880, when John Taylor was
elected President and George Q. Cannon and Joseph F.
Smith his counselors. This created three vacancies in the
quorum of Apostles. During the presidency of President
Taylor the deaths of Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, and Charles
C. Rich, in 1878, 1881, and 1883, respectively, created three
more vacancies. These six places were filled by the selection
of ]\Ioses Thatcher, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith,
George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant and John W. Taylor. The
deaths, meanwhile of Albert P. Rockwood, Joseph Young,
Levi W. Hancock, and John Van Cott, caused four vacan-
cies in the First Council of Seventy, which were filled by the
appointment of William W. Taylor, Abraham H. Cannon,
Seymour B. Young, and Christian D. Fjeldsted. But, in
1884, Elder Taylor died, and his place was taken by John
Morgan. Elder Eldredge passed away in 1888, and B. H.
Roberts took his place in the quorum.

It was during the administration of President Taylor,
as we have already learned, that the Crusade occurred. He
was one of the Lions of the Lord, bold and courageous, sin-
cere and earnest, cultured, scholarly, a man of fervid elo-
quence, with the pen as with the tongue, a perfect gentleman.
Coming after the mighty organizing and governing genius,
Brigham Young, President Taylor did not strike non-"Mor-
mons" generally as a strong man ; but, under the guidance of
the divine Spirit, he preserved intact the wonderful Society

616 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

that had grown up under the leadership of the Prophet and
his remarkable successor. President Taylor died, in exile for
the Truth, July, 1887, at Kaysville, Davis county, Utah.

For the next two years, lacking three months, the
Twelve were again left as the presiding quorum of the
Church. In April, 1889, Wilford Woodruff was chosen
President with George Q. Cannon and Joseph F.
Smith as his counselors. The incumbency of Presi-
dent Woodruff continued till 1898. Meanwhile, Al-
bert Carrington was excommunicated from the
Church and Erastus Snow passed away. Their positions
and that left vacant by the elevation of Elder Woodruff to
the Presidency were filled by Marriner W. Merrill, Anthon
H. Lund, and Abraham H. Cannon. The last named died in
1896, and in the same year Moses Thatcher was dropped
from the quorum : Matthias F. Cowley and Abraham O.
Woodruff were thereupon ordained Apostles and admitted
into the quorum. Some changes occurred also in the First
Seven Presidents of Seventy. Abraham H. Cannon was ad-
vanced to the quorum of Twelve, Henry Herriman, Jacob
Gates, and John Morgan passed away. Their places were
taken by George Reynolds, Jonathan G. Kimball, Rulon S.
Wells, and Edward Stevenson. Elder Stevenson, however,
died in 1898, and his place was filled by Joseph W. McMur-
rin.

During the nine years that President Woodruff occupied
this position, occurred that modification of the feeling of bit-
terness between the Gentiles and the "Mormons" in Utah, to
which we have already referred. And he was a man fitted by
nature to attain pacific ends, if such ends could be attained at
all between two such naturally inharmonious elements. He
was a man of uniform simplicity, kindliness, and upright-
ness, without a personal enemy in the world. He died, in

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 517

September, 1898, at San Francisco, while on a visit to Cali-
fornia for his health.

Once more, therefore, the presidency of the Church
rested upon the Twelve, Lorenzo Snow being President ; but
not for long, however, for, only eleven days after the demise
of President Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow was chosen President
of the Church, with the same counselors as the two preced-
ing presidents had selected. His administration continued
till October, 190 1 — almost exactly three years. During this
time President George O. Cannon passed away, and Rudger
Clawson was chosen second counselor, President Smith be-
ing made first counselor. Elder Clawson had previously
been made a member of the quorum of Twleve. Franklin D.
Richards also died while President Snow was in office. Reed
Smoot being chosen to fill the vacancy thus occurring.

President Snow's incumbency was characterized by a
financial betterment of the Church. During the troublous
years that preceded, the Church had become heavily indebt-
ed. President Snow exerted himself to his utmost to redeem
its money pledges. He visited personally some of the stakes
of Zion advocating a stricter payment of tithes by the people.
And he lived long enough to see a marked improvement in
this respect. He was a refined and polished man, of scholar-
ly habits of thought, and strong personality. He died rather
suddenly at the Bee Hive House in Salt Lake City, October
10, 1901.

The interval between the death of President Snow and
the appointment of Joseph F. Smith to the vacant office was
even briefer than that between the death of President Wood-
ruff and the election of his successor, — only seven days. The
reason for this apparent haste was explained by President
Smith at a special conference, as being partly because there
was no need for delay, but mainly because the financial in-
terests of the Church were so great as to require immediate

518 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

action in the matter of appointing and sustaining a trustee-
in-trust. President Smith's counselors were John R. Win-
der and Anthon H. Lund. This change and the deaths of
Apostles Young and Woodruff created three vacancies in the
quorum, which were filled by the ordination of Hyrum M.
Smith, George Albert Smith, and Charles W. Penrose.

President Joseph F. Smith is a son of Hyrum Smith,
the Patriarch, and has been actively engaged in the minis-
try ever since he was fifteen years of age. He is a man of
the most positive and earnest character, two qualities which
he is stamping indelibly upon the Church. He is continu-
ing the financial policy inaugurated by his predecessor, and
the present outlook is, that the Church will speedily be ab-
solved from material bondage, when we may expect new de-
velopments.

Auxiliary Societies.

It was in this period of Church history that what is known
among us as the auxiliary organizations had a beginning —
the Sunday Schools, the Young Men's and Yovmg Ladies'
Mutual Improvement Associations, and the Primary. The
Relief Society, which had its beginnings at Nauvoo, was re-
established in Utah during the days of President Young. We
shall speak of these separately.

First in order of time is the Sunday school. It began in
December, 1849, at a private dwelling in the fourteenth ward,
with Elder Richard Ballantyne as superintendent, who after-
wards became superintendent of the Sunday schools of We-
ber Stake. Afterwards, though slowly, schools were organ-
ized in other wards. When it was deemed advisable to have
a general head in order that a reasonable degree of uniform-
ity might be established. President George Q, Cannon was
made general Superintendent. From this necessity for uni-
formity grew the Deseret Sunday School Union. At present

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 519

this is one of the most thoroug'hly organized, the largest, and
the most useful of the auxiliary associations in the Church.
Every ward has a superintendent with assistants, other offi-
cers, and a corps of teachers, who generally meet once a
week for consultation upon the needs of the school. There
is, besides, a Stake Superintendent with other officers and a
board of aids, who meet at stated times, often once a week,
and who conduct union meetings every month. Then there
is the general Superintendency and the General Board.
During the past four years ( 1902-6) definite plans have been
printed and used in all the classes of the schools. The Juve-
nile Iiistnicfor is the official organ of this association, found-
ed, and edited till his death by President George Q. Cannon,
and edited now by President Joseph F. Smith, with George
Reynolds and Joseph M. Tanner as associate editors. The
general officers of the Sunday schools are : General Super-
intendency, Joseph F. Smith, George Reynolds, and Joseph
M, Tanner; Secretary, George D. Pyper; treasurer, George
Revnolds. According to the statistical report of 1904, the
total enrollment in all the Sunday schools of the Church,
stakes and missions, was more than one hundred and thirty-
six thousand.

Of the organization of the Women's Relief Society at
Nauvoo we have already spoken. For some time after the
removal of the Church to the West, it seems, nothing much
was done with it. But in 185 1 we find some organizations
in Salt Lake City wards. In the year 1855, President Young
urged the bishops generally to have a society formed in
their ecclesiastical districts. A sort of general supervision
over the work was entrusted to Sisters Eliza R. Snow and
Zina D. Huntington Young. This women's society did a
valuable service to Utah at the time the Cullom Bill was dis-
cussed. It was largely through its influence as an organiza-
tion that the woman's suffrage law was brought into exist-

520 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

ence in Utah in 1870. In later years a president and two
counselors were chosen, with a secretar}^, a treasurer, and a
board of aids. The Woman's Exponent is the organ of the
society, Lulu Greene Richards being the first editor and Eni-
meline B. Wells its second ; the latter is still editor. The Re-
lief Society continues along the lines of duty assigned it by
its organizer, Joseph the Prophet — namely, to administer to
the needy and suflfering among the Saints. In this labor of
love thousands of dollars, contributed by the members, are
spent annually in this noble direction. The officers are:
President, Bathsheba W. Smith ; counselors, Anne Taylor
Hyde and Ida Smoot Dusenberry ; secretary, Emmeline B.
Wells ; treasurer, Clarissa S. Williams.

The Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association
began its useful career in President Young's days. The
Twentieth Ward Institute was really the first of these insti-
tutions, and existed before there was any regular organiza-
tion of Improvement Associations. It had among its officers
such well known brethren as John Nicholson (its first pres-
ident), Karl G. Maeser, William C. Dunbar, James Sharp,
C. W. Stayner, George M. Ottinger, C. R. Savage and
George Reynolds. It was distinctively a young men's Im-
provement Association carried on along the lines that
prevailed for many years. Later, in 1875, President Young
appointed Junius F. Wells to effect an organization of what
is now the Y. M. M. I. A. proper. The first association was
formed in the thirteenth ward. In the same year John Llen-
ry Smith, Milton H. Hardy, and B. Morris Young were
called on a special mission to the various settlements of the
Saints for the purpose of organizing associations. As a re-
sult of the labors of the last two of these brethren — Elder
Smith having in the meantime been appointed to the bishop-
ric of the seventeenth ward — fifty-seven societies had been
effected by April, 1876, with a membership of about twelve

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 521

hundred. In December of this year a central committee was
formed: Junius F. Wells, president; Milton H, Hardy and
Rodney C. Badger, counselors ; John Nicholson, Richard
\V. Young-, and George F. Gibbs, secretaries ; and Mathoni
W. Pratt, treasurer. In 1878 a special effort was made to
increase tlie number of organizations and also to establish
libraries and cabinets. The Contributor, a monthly maga-
zine, was begun as the organ of the Associations, Junius F.
Wells being the editor. After seventeen volumes it was sus-
pended, onl}^ to be succeeded, however, four years later by
the present organ, the Era, which is now edited by Edward
H. Anderson, though its first editor was B. H. Roberts.
Regular courses of study were prescribed, which for a num-
ber of years now have been published in the form of manuals
for the older and the younger members separately. Alean-
while, the central committee grew into the present superin-
tendency with a board of aids. The general officers are as
follows : General Superintendency, Joseph F. Smith, Heber
J. Grant, and B. H. Roberts ; secretary and treasurer, Thom-
as Hull ; music director, Evan Stephens ; assistant music
director, Horace S. Ensign.

Next came the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement As-
sociation. In the winter of 1869, President Young called to-
gether his wives and daughters at his home in the Lion
House and gave them instructions in "economy and healthful
living, deprecating the extravagance and vanity that were
becoming prevalent in the community." He gave them this
salutary advice : "Your time is all the capital that God has
given you. and if you waste that, you are bankrupt indeed."
Thence sprang what was known as the Retrenchment So-
ciety, the duty to supervise which was imposed upon Mrs.
M. Isabella Home. And out of this society grew the present
Young Ladies' Association. It is fashioned after its com-
plement organization, considered in the preceding paragraph.

522 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Its organ is the Yoking Woman's Journal; a monthly peri-
odical begun in 1889, and edited by the General Board. The
present general officers are as follows : President, Martha
Home Tingey; counselors, Ruth May Fox, and Mae Taylor
Nystrom; secretary, Ann M. Cannon; assistant secretary,
Agnes Camtbell, treasurer. Alice K. Smith.

The Primary Association came into existence in 1878.
The first idea of such an organization seems to have oc-
curred to Sister Aurelia S. Rogers, a daughter of Orson
Spencer; and the first association was organized at Farm-
ington in August of that year. It was not till two years later
that stake organizations began to be eflfected. But since then
the work has extended into every part of the Church, and is
now one of the substantial aids in educating the children.
For the past few years a paper — The Children's Friend — has
been published as a means of unifying the work of the As-
sociation, since its columns are devoted mainly to the les-
sons to be presented. The general officers, as at present con-
stituted, are ; President, Louie B. Felt ; counselors, Lillie T.
Freeze and Josephine R. West ; secretary and treasurer, May
Anderson ; assistant secretary, Olive D. Christensen ; record-
ing secretary. Vera I. Felt ; chorister, Margaret Hull ; organ-
ist. Norma Fenton.

Education.

Closely associated with these early efforts to train the young
people of the Church is to be considered the general system
of denominational schools among the Latter-day Saints.

On several occasions, during the progress of our narra-
tive, we have called attention to some of the basic principles
of education held by the Church. It is commonly thought
by non-"Mormons" that the "Mormons" not only do
not value education very highly, but that "Mor-
monism" rests upon ignorance. This, however, is an

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 523

agregious error. No people can put a higher estimate upon
education than the Latter-day Saints. According to them,
"the glory of God is intelligence." and "a man is saved no
faster than he gains knowledge." And their practice has
always been in harmony with this theory, though the con-
stant persecution to which they have been subject has pre-
vented the latter from keeping pace with the former. At the
schools of the prophets, which have been held in Ohio. Mis-
souri, Illinois, and Utah, a number of branches of learning
were taught by the best teachers that could be employed.
There was a high school established at Kirtland, and all ar-
rangements were made for founding a university at Nauvoo.
Even the awkward circustances in which the Saints found
themselves at their temporary settlements in the wilderness,
were not permitted to interfere with the establishment of
schools for their children. Doubtless, these w-ere crude ; but
they were the best to be had. Indeed, it is extremely doubt-
ful whether any other people — the detractors of the Saints,
for instance — so situated would have turned their thoughts
toward education, unless it w^ere to bemoan the absence of
schools. Three months had not elapsed since the arrival of
the pioneers in Salt Lake valley, before a school was opened
at the "Old Fort." The teacher was Miss Mary Jane Dil-
worth, a young girl of seventeen, who afterwards became
the wife of President F. A. Llammond of the San Juan stake.
"Pieces of logs were used for seats, and a small camp-table
for a desk." In February. 1850, the University of Deseret,
now the University of Utah, was chartered.

But it is the Church school system of education that we
wish to call attention to here. The State schools, it is well
known, do not permit religious instruction. Hence it was
thought desirable to have schools established in which the
principles of the gospel might be taught in connection with
other branches of learning. Accordingly, the Brigham

624 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

Young Academy at Provo, now the Brigham Young Uni-
versity, the Brigham Young College at Logan, and the Lat-
ter-day Saints' College at Salt Lake City, which has also
changed its name to the Latter-day Saints' University, were
established, the first in 1876, the second in 1877, and the third
in 1886. In addition to these three main Church schools,
many other schools are now in operation. Most of
these, however, are still doing grade work, some high school
work, two college work, but none university work in the
sense in which this term is understood in educational circles,
the two "universities" being simply promises of what the
future may bring. By means of these institutions a vast
army of young people are turned out each year excellently
equipped as missionaries for the foreign ministry and work-
ers in the ward and stake organizations, by reason of the
training, theological and secular, which they receive here.

Akin to this educational system, indeed, part of it, is
what is known as the Religion Class. This is a peculiar or-
ganization, brought into existence in 1892 for the purpose
of supplementing the work of the district schools by furnish-
ing a class in religion. The recitation consists of six steps
as follows: first, singing; second, prayer; third, a memory
gem, usually from the Scriptures; fourth, a lesson on re-
ligion, morals, manners, or general conduct ; fifth, testimony-
bearing ; sixth, singing and prayer. The key note of the
work is, "Learn to do by doing." It furnishes distinctively
religious rather than theological training. Like most other
new organizations, this movement has met with no little op-
position from those who were ignorant regarding its pur-
poses and character, but it is now established in most of the
stakes of Zion and in some of the missions, where it is doing
a worthy work. There are ward, stake, and general super-
intendents with other officers and aids. The General Super-

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM. 625

intendency consists of Anthon H. Lund, Rudger Clawson,
and Joseph M. Tanner.

Utah Temples.

The same interest has been manifested in the Church during
the hist sixty years in the salvation of the dead, that charac-
terized it before the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph. Hence
temple-building has continued to be an important object of
thought by all the Presidents of the Church smce the settle-
ment of Utah.

The first temple in this western country was built at St.
George. The site was dedicated November 9th, 1871,
ground being broken on the same day. It measures one hun-
dred and forty-one feet in length by ninety-three feet in
width. The height to the top of the parapet is eighty-four
feet. The east tower is surmounted with an octagonal dome
rising from a square base. The cost is estimated to have
been eight-hundred thousand dollars. It was dedicated April
5th. 1877, the year of President Young's death. This noble
structure stands a solemn monument of industry and faith,
overlooking a dreary stretch of desert.

In May, 1877, had been dedicated another temple site on
the bench east of Logan City, in Cache valley. This building
is one hundred and seventy-one feet long and ninety-five feet
wide, the highest tower — the eastern — standing one hundred
and fifty-five feet. It is a beautiful and imposing structure,
overlooking almost the whole of Cache valley. The dedi-
catory services took place in May, 1884.

It was in President Young's days, also, that the temple
site at Manti was dedicated, the event occurring in April,
1877, though the corner stones were not laid till two years
later. The size of the building is : length, one hundred and
seventy-two feet, width ninety-five feet. The east tower rises
from the ground one hundred and seventy-nine feet. "The

526 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

site of the building is unique, being flanked on two sides with
terraces. The foundation is sixty-three feet above the road
running along the base of the hill." The total cost is esti-
mated at one million dollars. It was dedicated May 21st,
1888.

The first temple contemplated in the West, however, the
last one finished, and the grandest of the six structures
erected by the Saints in this dispensation is the Salt Lake
Temple. A few days after the arrival of the pioneer com-
pany in the valley of Salt Lake, President Young and a num-
ber of the brethren went out to where the temple now stands.
The President, striking his cane into the earth, said, "Here
will be the temple of our God." And so it was ; on that spot
stands one of the noblest structures in America, and one of
the most famous in the world. Its dimensions are: length,
one hundred and eighty-six feet; width, ninety-nine; the
central eastern tower is two hundred and twenty-two feet
high. The total cost is about four million dollars. The
dedication occurred in April, 1893, fcrty years after it was
begun. It is seldom among men that such imposing cere-
monies are witnessed as took place on this occasion. Eighty-
five thousand people, including fifteen thousand Sunday
school children, attended the dedicatory services, which were
repeated day after day till all who were eligible and who
could attend had enjoyed this inestimable privilege.

At the services of dedication, many of the Saints re-
ceived manifestations of the divine power and glory. Some
who were sick were instantly healed, and angels were seen by
others. Moreover, since these memorable ceremonies, God
has showered his blessings upon the people in a very remark-
able manner.

Growth of the Church.

It is impossible to ascertain the whole membership of the

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONIVM. 527

Church at the death of Joseph Smith the Prophet, in 1844,
at the end of the first fourteen years of its existence ; but most
probably fifty thousand would be a large enough figure.
Now, however, the membership of the Church is something
over three hundred thousand. So that "Mormonism" has
been making rapid headway during the last sixty-five years
notwithstanding numerous adverse winds.

Since the death of the Prophet Joseph, the work, at
home and abroad, has been more thoroughly organized. The
number of stakes has increased to fifty-five, as follows : Al-
berta, Alpine, Bannock, Bear Lake, Beaver, Benson, Big
Horn, Bingham, Blackfoot, Boxelder, Cache, Cassia, Davis,
Emery, Ensign, Fremont, Granite, Ply rum, Jordan, Juab,
Juarez, Kanab, Liberty, Malad, Maricopa, Millard, Morgan.
Nebo, North Sanpete, Oneida, Panguitch, Parowan, Pioneer,
Pocatello, Salt Lake, San Luis, San Juan, Sevier, Snowflake,
South Sanpete, Star Valley, St. George, St. Johns, St. Jo-
seph, Summit, Taylor, Teton, Tooele, Uintah, Union, Utah,
Wasatch. Wayne, Weber, and Woodruff. It will be observed
that these various stakes are scattered over a great territory.
Most of them are in Utah, but some are in Idaho, Arizona,
Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, Mexico, and Canada. In these
there are between six and seven hundred wards. Over each
stake there is a president with two counselors, and over each
ward a bishop with two counselors. Besides, the parts of
the world not included in what is generally termed Zion, are
as effectively organized. There are twenty-four "Missions,"
each with a president, as follows : The Eastern States, the
Southern States, the Northern States, Colorado, the Central
States, the Northwestern States, California, the Mexican,
the British, the German and Swiss, the Swedish, the Scan-
dinavian, including only Norway and Denmark, the Nether-
lands, the Hindoostan, the Turkish, the Japanese, the Aus-
tralian, the South African, the Iceland, the Society Islands,

528 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MORMONISM.

the Sarnoan, the Sandwich Islands. These are all sub-
divided into "conferences" and the conferences again into
"branches." And converts are made every year in all of
these missions by the hundreds of missionaries sent out an-
nually from the various established Stakes of Zion.

"Mormonism" is therefore more firmly established than
ever and has brighter prospects before it than at any pre-
vious time in its history, notwithstanding the opposition that
is at this moment being brought to bear against it. The
confidence of the Saints in their leaders, ward, stake, and
general, it is safe to say has never been stronger. Probably
it would not be far from the truth to say that President Jo-
seph F. Smith, so far as his office in the Church is concerned,
wields a greater infiuence than any of his predecessors. But
there is no "menace" in "Mormonism," nothing inimical to
the constitution of our great country. The people through-
out the Church repose trust in their leaders becaiise these
leaders have never required anything of them that is not
consonant with reason and perfect liberty, or that is in con-
flict with the highest laws of virtue and truth; nor could
they, and retain this trust, ^"he United States and the world,
therefore, need have lio apprehensions or fear respecting
"Mormonism ;" for it will always be found, as it has always
been found, on the side of truth, freedom, and the purest
morality.

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